PANSOW Welcomes Historic Gender-Based Violence Task Force Announcement
May 27. 2026
On behalf of the Provincial Action Network of the Status of Women (PANSOW), we would like to acknowledge today’s announcement by the Honourable Lela Evans, Minister of Women and Gender Equality. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has declared Gender-Based Violence (GBV) an epidemic in our province and is establishing a new Task Force dedicated to addressing this pervasive violence in our communities.
The first call for the creation of a GBV task force was proposed by PANSOW in 2017, after decades of advocacy led by survivors, community leaders, and feminists across the province. In March 2024, PANSOW released the Seeds of Change Report, which renewed the longstanding call to action for a survivor-led, inter-departmental, and well-resourced Task Force. We are optimistic that these announcements will propel actionable change towards our shared goal of ending gender-based violence in our province.
We are honoured that PANSOW member, Stacey Hoffe, has been appointed to the Task Force, alongside community leaders, Elders, activists with lived experience, and government representatives. We thank the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for answering our call to action.
PANSOW consists of the Executive Directors of The Status of Women Councils of Newfoundland and Labrador. PANSOW applies a ‘provincial lens’ to issues of equality and ensures a public voice for women and gender-diverse people from a non-partisan, grassroots, and feminist perspective. PANSOW’s mandate is to advocate to lobby for gender equity.
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