The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Carol Anne Haley, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women:

Mr. Speaker, on Friday, November 23, I joined with community partners to launch the annual Purple Ribbon campaign to increase awareness and responsiveness to violence against women. As part of the launch, we raised the Purple Ribbon flag, which will remain in place until December 10, coinciding with the International 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

In the last year, our government has implemented a number of legislative changes aimed to help women and girls who are facing violence, including changing the definition of family violence in the Family Violence Protection Act, implementing a new Harassment Free Workplace Policy for those working in the public service, amending the Labour Standards Act to include family violence leave and passing legislation on the protection of intimate images.

We are now looking at how to continue with violence prevention in Newfoundland and Labrador. In the coming months, we will be working with stakeholders and partners to hear their perspectives on violence prevention and the needs of the community. I look forward to those discussions and moving to the next phase of the initiative.

We all have a responsibility to address this issue. We must all work to end violence so that all women and girls can live, work and play in a society where they feel safe, and can pursue their full potential.

I ask everyone in our province to not only continue the conversation but to take action against violence.