Opinion: Alberta's gender-based violence plan should focus on survivors

Edmonton Journal

24-07-2025

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What if a plan to end gender-based violence reinforced the very systems that allow it to persist?
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That's the risk Alberta takes with its newly released 10-year strategy to end gender-based violence (GBV). Announced with fanfare in May, nearly two years after the province signed a $54.1-million bilateral agreement with Ottawa, the strategy comes at a critical time. Alberta's rates of GBV remain among the highest in the country. The need for co-ordinated, long-term action is urgent.
But despite the promise of progress, the plan falters in two crucial ways: It ignores intersectionality and places undue focus on men in ways that may do more harm than good.
Intersectionality — the recognition that gender is just one dimension of identity, and that violence is often shaped by racism, ableism, immigration status, xenophobia, homophobia, and urban-rural disparities — is foundational to the federal National Action Plan (NAP). Alberta's version sidesteps this approach, opting instead for a checklist of 'priority groups' including Indigenous people, LGBTQ+ individuals, newcomers, people with disabilities, and those in rural or northern communities.
But real lives don't fit neatly into categories. A queer, newcomer woman with a disability in a rural town doesn't experience GBV in silos — and she shouldn't be treated as if she does. Without an intersectional lens, Alberta's strategy risks being too generic to reach those most at risk. Survivors who face multiple layers of marginalization frequently fall through the cracks, encountering services that are either ill-equipped or unavailable to meet their needs. Alberta's plan offers little indication that these gaps will be meaningfully addressed.
Equally concerning is how the strategy centres men — not primarily as potential perpetrators, but as victims and change agents. Citing that one-third of Canadian men experience some form of intimate partner violence, the strategy uses this statistic to justify increased focus on male-targeted prevention programs. While it's important to acknowledge that men can also experience violence, this framing diverts attention from the populations most affected: women and gender-diverse people, who experience intimate partner violence at significantly higher rates and with greater severity.
Even within its framing of men, the strategy flattens differences. Data from Statistics Canada shows that sexual minority men experience intimate partner violence at twice the rate of their heterosexual peers. Yet Alberta's plan treats men as a single, uniform group, missing the nuances that effective prevention strategies require.
Two out of the plan's five strategic priorities emphasize men-focused interventions. While it's true that men are more likely to commit violence — accounting for 93 per cent of femicides in Canada — experts warn that overemphasizing men can individualize the issue and obscure the broader social forces that enable violence: patriarchy, sexism, and systemic inequality.
Worse, some well-meaning campaigns promoting 'positive masculinity' reinforce outdated stereotypes. The idea that 'real men' protect women places men in the role of saviours and implies that women must earn protection. This reinforces gender hierarchies and, unintentionally, contributes to victim-blaming.
Yes, men must be part of the solution — but not at the expense of addressing the root causes of violence or centring those who are most affected by it.
What Alberta's plan needs now is course correction. The provincial government should strengthen Priority 5: 'Support survivors and all those impacted where and when they need it' by adopting a fully intersectional lens. That means meaningful consultation with marginalized communities, culturally safe and accessible services, and sustainable funding for Alberta organizations already leading this work in cities like Edmonton and across the province.
Alberta needs to revise its GBV strategy to reflect the real-world experiences of survivors — and to meaningfully invest in structural solutions, not surface-level fixes. This starts by aligning fully with the federal National Action Plan's intersectional principles and by targeting resources to those who face the greatest risks. Good intentions are not enough. If Alberta is serious about ending gender-based violence, it must centre survivors — not stereotypes.
Olesya Kochkina is a PhD student at the Department of Sociology, University of Alberta.
Lise Gotell is a professor of Women's and Gender Studies, University of Alberta.
Letters welcome
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