Our National Network
2009 -2010 DAWN-RAFH Canada Board of Directors
DAWN-RAFH Canada was founded in 1985 following a meeting between seventeen women from across Canada who came together to discuss issues of mutual concern. In a society which devalues and often punishes difference of any kind, women with disabilities face many barriers. If we are aboriginal women, lesbians, older women or women of colour we encounter even more discrimination and more barriers.
Did you know that:
- At least 53% of all people with disabilities in Canada are women
- The unemployment rate among women with disabilities is up to 75%
- 8% of women with disabilities live on less than $10,000 per year. Of those, 23% live on less than $5,000 per year
- Accessible cribs, accessible and affordable childcare and other services for mothers with disabilities are virtually non-existant
- A drunken and/or abusive father is often considered a better parent than a mother who has a disability
- Women and children with disabilities are twice as likely to be victims of violence than non-disabled women, women and children with multiple disabilities experience even higher rates of violence
- Across Canada, few rape crisis centres and transition houses are accessible to women with all kinds of disabilities
**Based on the 1991 Health and Activity Limitation Survey (HALS), which was problematic due to its definition of disability
Our Mission Statement
A New Era of Action...
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DAWN-RAFH Canada's mission is to end the poverty, isolation, discrimination and violence experienced by women with disabilities. We are working to ensure we get the services and supports we need, have access to opportunities that non-disabled people take for granted, and have freedom of choice in all aspects of our lives.
- To achieve our mission on behalf of women with disabilities, we have set the following goals:
- To do outreach with all women with disabilities, including aboriginal women, black women, Asian women, South Asian women, women of color, immigrant women, lesbians, older women, women in institutions and single mothers.
- To address issues such as poverty, employment equity, violence, mothering, sexuality, health, isolation, access to services and New Reproductive Technologies (NRTs).
- To be a resource for and about women with disabilities and our concerns.
- To provide role models for girls with disabilities.
- to be a bridge between women with disabilities and the women's movement.
- to work together with the women's movement on issues which affect all women and to help the movement become more accessible to women with disabilities.
- to work in coalition with those who share our concerns for social justice; and
- to be the voice of women with disabilities in Canada.
2009 -2010 DAWN-RAFH Canada Board of Directors
Executive
President
Carmela Hutchison - hutch@efirehose.net
Vice-President
Zelda J. Rempel – zeldajaner@shaw.ca
Treasurer
Shelley Breau - sbcatlover@gmail.com
National Executive Director
Bonnie Brayton - admin@dawncanada.net
Board of Directors
British Columbia Representative
Barbara Burdick - blburdick@gmail.com
Alberta Representative
Carmela Hutchison hutch@efirehose.net
Saskatchewan Representative
Zelda J. Rempel - zeldajaner@shaw.ca
Manitoba Representative
Laurie Helgason - lauriehelgason@mts.net
Ontario Representative
Fran Odette - cnwonder@rogers.com
Quebec Representative
Linda Perreault - dawn.rafh.qc@gmail.com
Nova Scotia Representative
Robab Haghpanh - RB343061@dal.ca
New Brunswick Representative
Ysabelle Vautour - ysabellevautour@hotmail.com
Prince Edward Island Representative
Shelley Breau - sbcatlover@gmail.com
Newfoundland and Labrador Representative
Pauline Duffy - pauline.duffy@warp.nfld.net
North West Territories and Yukon Representative
Judi Johnny - judij@northwestel.net
Nunavut Representative
no current contact
Ethnocultural Group Representative
no current contact
Student Representative
no current contact
Bylaws
Available in PDF format and in DOC format
DisAbled Women's Network Canada
110 Sainte-Thérèse Street, Suite 505, Montréal, QC H2Y 1E6
Phone: 514 396-0009 (QC); Fax: (514) 396-6585 (QC)
Toll free (Canada): 1-866-396-0074
Phone the toll free number first to arrange a facsimile transmission (Canada)
Email: admin@dawncanada.net
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