Female Education, Advocacy and Support Services - For Battered Women
Abuse / Neglect, Employment, Indigenous Services, Legal, LGBT2Q+ Community, and Victim Services
Provided by Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS)
Provides education, advocacy, and legal/crisis support services to support women in ending domestic violence and related forms of abuse.
BWSS provides support services, education, training and referrals throughout Metro Vancouver, the province of BC, nationally and internationally. All services are provided by trained workers who work from an empowerment model and from a feminist, anti-oppression perspective, promoting equality for all women. Any woman who has experienced abuse in an intimate relationship, childhood sexual abuse or adult sexual assault may access these services.
Services offered include:
- Crisis & Intake Line: Provides immediate emotional support and practical assistance to help individuals cope more effectively during a crisis. Offers immediate, short-term help to survivors of violent intimate relationships, childhood sexual abuse, and adult sexual assault.
- Counselling, Support Groups & Programs: BWSS provides long-term individual Stopping the Violence counselling for women who are currently experiencing violence and/or who are survivors of violence including childhood sexual abuse or adult sexual assault. BWSS also provides support to women survivors of Indian Residential Schools and/or foster care.
- Indigenous Women’s Program: Offers culturally appropriate services run by Indigenous women for Indigenous women. This program offers direct services through drum groups, counselling, and different ceremonies such as full moon and sweat lodge ceremonies.
- LGBTQ2S and non-binary survivors of violence: Provides relevant services and support for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, queer, transgender, two-spirit, and non-binary survivors of violence.
- Victim Services Program: Provides direct services, legal assistance and systems based information, crisis intervention, safety planning, advocacy, court accompaniment and referrals to women and female youth survivors of violence in intimate relationships and/or criminal harassment.
- AWARE Program: Helps women move out of the cycle of trauma and violence through employment and economic development.
- My Sister's Closet: Clothing and accessories for all genders are donated to two boutique locations and the proceeds go to fund the services and programs BWSS offers. This retail program also provides volunteer opportunities.
- Legal Resources & Services: The Justice Centre at BWSS is a community- based legal clinic, providing trauma and violence informed, multilingual, and culturally responsive legal services to women and femmes who are facing issues with family law, immigration, child welfare, sexual assault and/or the criminal justice system.
- Information, Resources & Reports: BWSS has a growing collection of resources, reports, and publications including handouts for any woman dealing with abuse, articles on related issues, BWSS pamphlets, and reports detailing our anti-violence activities. See the full list here.
- Black Women’s Program: Offers a range of support groups and specialized support groups as part of the Black Women’s Program. Participants are surrounded and supported by women who have a common and distinctive shared ancestral history without the need to censor themselves, or perform for others.
- Latin American Women’s Program: This program offers survivor assistance support, long term counselling and a support group in their own language.
- Thrive Program: Carefully-designed to support the diverse needs of women with lived experience in sex economies in setting and achieving their goals. Thrive takes a rights based approach and meet women where they are at to best identify their needs, goals and challenges.
- Volunteer Training & Opportunities: Offers Violence Prevention and Intervention Volunteer Training Programs twice a year. Through the training volunteers gain knowledge and skills in crisis intervention, safety planning, advocacy, community resources, and group facilitation skills to then be able to provide support to women who call our crisis line and attend some of our support groups.
604-687-1868
Public email: information@bwss.org
Website: https://www.bwss.org/support
#PO Box 21503, 1424 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5L 5G2
1-855-687-1868 (Crisis & Intake Line)
604-687-0770 (My Sister's Closet, Main Street)
3958 Main Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5V 3P2
Hours: Monday to Sunday 11am – 6pm.
604-251-7229 (My Sister's Closet, Commercial Drive)
1830 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5N 4A5
Hours: Monday to Sunday 11am – 6pm.
Cost: No cost
Availability
Service area: Province-wide + show cities
Service Types Provided
Abuse / Neglect
Employment
- Employment Support
Indigenous Services
LGBT2Q+ Community
Ways to Access
- Provided 1:1 in-person
- Provided at multiple locations
- Provided in a group in-person
The listing of this service in Pathways is not a recommendation or endorsement by Pathways.