Kristy Masson
In response to the heightened discussions on women’s safety and gender‑based violence, Genvis, a female‑founded tech company, has announced the commencement of a pilot program in Eastern Ontario beginning in April.
A woman or girl in Canada dies as a result of IPV and GBV every 48 hours, and 44% of women report experiencing some form of psychological, physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner in their lifetimes. Spousal violence alone costs Canada $7.4‑billion per year, with victims impacted disproportionately. Experts emphasize the urgent need for improved data sharing, reporting, and collaboration to tackle this complex problem. Responsible agencies and service providers lack modern, fit‑for‑purpose tech tools to share information and collaborate with impacted women, support organizations and government.
“Genvis is on a mission to transform how public safety teams keep communities safe. We’re not content to innovate tech to make it possible—we are actively driving the agenda to make it happen by investing more than $1‑million to support women at risk of harm through the pilot,” said Genvis CEO Kirstin Butcher.
As part of this pilot, a personal safety app named Milli is being introduced, alongside a purpose‑built case management solution called Kudo. The pilot technologies enable victim‑survivors to access support services on their own terms, improve coordination and collaboration between support and government agencies, foster perpetrator accountability through collecting evidence of harm, and improve data quality and sharing to provide researchers with an evidence base that can inform service design, delivery and policy. The pilot includes a community of practice to drive sector uplift through experiential learning and sharing best practices.
This collaborative initiative, undertaken with Victim Services of Leeds and Grenville and eight other East Ontario Victim Service providers and directly impacted individuals, aims to harness technology to empower victim‑survivors, streamline support services, and foster enhanced collaboration among service providers and government agencies.