Raising a Flag at City Hall

What a day!

To kick off the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence, Aura Freedom and Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke co-hosted this year’s Wrapped in Courage Flag Raising event at Toronto City Hall. We were honoured to join the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH)’s annual Wrapped in Courage campaign to recognize Woman Abuse Prevention month.

Together, we brought almost 100 advocates, frontline workers and survivors to Toronto City Hall to raise a flag and honour our collective work to address the epidemic of Intimate Partner Violence, breaking the silence and standing together in solidarity against the increasing rates of femicide and violence against women, girls, and gender-diverse people in our communities.

A special thank you goes to both Mayor Olivia Chow and Toronto City Councillor Lily Cheng for welcoming us to Toronto City Hall.

And thank you to our esteemed speakers for sharing their powerful words of support for eradicating gender-based violence and intimate partner violence: the Honourable Charmaine Williams, Amy Lester on behalf of MPP Marit Stiles, Mayor Chow, Councillor Cheng, and Marlene Ham of OAITH.

The flag is a symbol of commitment and of solidarity and we are grateful to all who supported this important day.

Thank you to everyone who attended!