Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses

Pride Month is a celebration, but for 2SILGBTQ+ communities, safety is still a daily protest. True intersectional feminism recognizes that q***rphobia, transphobia, and gender-based violence are direct and equal expressions of patriarchal control over people’s bodies, identities, and autonomy.

The reality for q***r and gender-diverse folks across Canada remains incredibly stark: Hate crimes targeting a gender identity or expression are only on the rise.

We cannot end gender-based violence without fighting equally for every survivor. This June, our advocacy must be intersectional, loud, and focused on dismantling the systemic barriers that leave Q***r communities targeted and unprotected.

OAITH is proud to provide learning opportunities to support GBV organizations as they support 2SLGBTQIA people in their communities. Check out our Training Hub and receive your certificate for Moving Towards Trans Inclusive Shelter and Housing today! oaith.ca/training-hub/

Home is supposed to be a safe haven. But as the housing crisis worsens across Canada, the lack of safe, affordable housing is trapping survivors in violent and unsafe conditions. 🕊️

According to OAITH’s femicide data, an overwhelming 79% of victims were killed inside or directly outside their residence. Without real, affordable housing alternatives, leaving an abuser is becoming an impossible choice for many.

This crisis is also fundamentally altering family structures. Ontario is now home to half of all residents living in multigenerational housing. While pooling resources can be a positive choice, research shows it is only successful when individuals have true autonomy.

When economic desperation forces families together, it places intense financial and caregiving burdens on older adults. These shifting power dynamics are known risk factors for elder abuse and femicide—often perpetrated within the home by family members, including adult sons.

We cannot talk about ending gender-based violence without talking about housing. Our policies must change to prioritize housing as a fundamental human right. ⚖️✊💜

🔗 Read more about how shifting housing norms impact survivor safety at the link in our bio.

SafeHousing housingrightsarehumanrights

Home is supposed to be a safe haven. But as the housing crisis worsens across Canada, the lack of safe, affordable housing is trapping survivors in violent and unsafe conditions. 🕊️
According to OAITH’s femicide data, an overwhelming 79% of victims were killed inside or directly outside their residence. Without real, affordable housing alternatives, leaving an abuser is becoming an impossible choice for many.
This crisis is also fundamentally altering family structures. Ontario is now home to half of all residents living in multigenerational housing. While pooling resources can be a positive choice, research shows it is only successful when individuals have true autonomy.
When economic desperation forces families together, it places intense financial and caregiving burdens on older adults. These shifting power dynamics are known risk factors for elder abuse and femicide—often perpetrated within the home by family members, including adult sons.
We cannot talk about ending gender-based violence without talking about housing. Our policies must change to prioritize housing as a fundamental human right. ⚖️✊💜
🔗 Read more about how shifting housing norms impact survivor safety in the link in our bio.

Words have power. How the media reports on femicide shapes how our communities, survivors, and policymakers understand gender-based violence. 🕊️

In partnership with , OAITH has analyzed 5 years of local, national, and television news coverage tracking media frames. The trends show a shifting landscape, but our collective work is far from finished.

📉 The Progress: We are seeing a positive decline in harmful victim-blaming language and a shift away from individualizing these crimes as “isolated, random, one-off events.” More journalists are humanizing the victims and explicitly using the term femicide.

⚠️ The Critical Gap: An over-reliance on traditional voices of authority (like law enforcement) persists, often omitting the context of systemic oppression, coercive control, or histories of abuse. Shockingly, only a tiny fraction of media reports include vital local service or help-line information for readers who might be in danger.

The headlines shouldn’t just recount a tragedy—they should be a vehicle for connection, survival, and prevention. Let’s change the frame to move our list to zero.

🔗 Read the full 5-Year Media Analysis Report at the link in our bio.

International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia is recognized globally as a day to raise awareness about the violence and discrimination specifically experienced by sexual minority peoples.

3 in 5 Trans women experience violence related to their gender identity because of someone else’s understanding of what their gender “should be”, or how they express or don’t express their gender.

The dominance of a structural gender binary within the gender based violence sector impacts how 2SLGBTQIA+ and gender and sexual diverse people are included, treated, and recognized within the sector.

We must challenge the structures that reinforce harmful binaries by encouraging ourselves and service providers to;
Use Inclusive Language
Create Gender Inclusive Policies and Practices
Commit to Diversity and Visibility
Commit to Ongoing Learning

Today, and everyday, OAITH stands with the 2SLGBTQIA community in support of the equality, justice and freedom missing, and desperately needed, in their lives.

Today, we join the collective call for justice on Red Dress Day, a day to honour and remember Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S+).
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cross our province, red dresses hang in windows and from trees as a haunting visual of the lives stolen by systemic violence. Each empty dress represents a family still fighting for accountability in a system that continues to fail Indigenous communities.

The statistics are a direct indictment of colonial structures: while Indigenous women make up less than 5% of the population, they account for nearly 1 in 4 women killed by homicide. This is not a coincidence; it is the result of deep-seated systemic racism and a lack of meaningful protection.
Every day, we see how intimate partner violence is weaponized through coercive control and systemic neglect, placing Indigenous women at an even higher risk of femicide. True prevention requires us to dismantle these inequalities at their root.

We continue to learn that ending gender-based violence requires listening to the voices that the system has long tried to silence.
Today and every day, we remember. Their lives matter. Their justice is overdue.

No More Stolen Sisters. ✊💜

Image courtesy of

As part of Sexual Violence Prevention Month this May 2026, OAITH is focusing on the deep-rooted connections between systemic issues and individual safety. Prevention is a shared responsibility, requiring leadership across all sectors to move beyond immediate crisis response toward sustainable, system-wide social change; whether that is teaching a child about boundaries, updating a workplace policy, or passing federal legislation.

Less than 6% of victims report incidents of sexual violence to police; we can’t help those we don’t know about. But we also must advocate for the systemic changes needed to ensure safe responses from institutions and people alike so that we remove barriers for accessing services and supports.

If you or someone you know is in need of help, go to mulberyfinder.ca for next steps.



Images courtesy of

We are releasing our March 2026 Femicide Factsheet with a solemn focus on a group often left out of the conversation: older women.

Swipe left to see the data. This month, the victim recorded was age 55+.

We need to talk about why older women remain at high risk for intimate partner violence (IPV):

Invisible Barriers: Generational stigma and long-term patterns of “private” abuse.

Economic Risk: Financial reliance on an abuser regarding pensions or fixed incomes.

Isolation: Increased health challenges that make it harder to seek safety.

Violence doesn’t have an expiration date, and neither should our advocacy. It’s time to bring older survivors out of the shadows.

every woman deserves to age in safety.

🔗 Read the full March report-link in our bio!

On , we stand with our partners at to support them as they work endlessly to close the gender pay gap for care workers. The women and racialized workers who overwhelmingly do care work remain undervalued and underpaid. Use the QR code in the slides to send a letter to your MPP demanding that Ontario deliver a provincial wage grid, benefits and pension for care workers.

On behalf of the Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses (OAITH), we want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us on March 24th and 25th for our “Pathways to Possibilities” event.

Together, we took a significant step forward in Fostering a Community of Knowledge and Hope.

💡 To Our Incredible Presenters & Panelists
Thank you for sharing your expertise, lived experience, and vision for the future. From deep dives into Anti-Human Trafficking and Housing Law to exploring the frontier of AI and Technology in THSP work, your insights have equipped us all with new tools to better serve our communities.
Special thanks to:
Rhiannon Wong for leading our AI & Technology workshops.
Dr. Carolyn Whitzman for the inspiring keynote on Housing Policy.
Joey Jang for the vital workshop on Housing Law. .tdcp
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services for the funding provided to support this event,
Minister Michael Parsa
Deputy Minister Daniele Zanotti
Assistant Deputy Minister Taunya Paquette

Our panelists who sparked critical conversations on the future of housing stability.

🤝 To Our Participants
Thank you for your energy, your thoughtful questions during breakout sessions, and your commitment to collaboration. Whether we were discussing policy or getting creative at the Le Petit Plant Bar, your presence made this event truly special.

🏠 The Journey Continues
The “Road to Housing Stability” is one we walk together. We leave this event feeling recharged and ready to turn these discussions into action.

Did you snap any photos? Tag us and use the hashtag so we can see your favorite moments!