Welcome to Part 2 of our June 2026 Inspirational Interview with Anuradha Dugal, Executive Director of Women’s Shelters Canada.
Anuradha is a passionate advocate with over 25 years of experience championing the rights and safety of women, children, and gender-diverse people fleeing violence. In 2024, she stepped into the role of Executive Director at Women’s Shelters Canada, after nearly two decades of impactful leadership at the Canadian Women’s Foundation. Her commitment to justice and equity has earned her national recognition, including the King Charles III Coronation Medal, awarded for her outstanding service to Canada.
In this part of the interview, Anuradha talks about her organisation’s tech safety project and its plans to expand its services and increase public awareness of violence against women.
Part one of Anuradha’s interview was published 7 June 2026.
All photos are courtesy of Women’s Shelters Canada.
6. TechSafety.ca is an online resource for people experiencing tech-facilitated gender-based violence. This is a timely and relevant resource given the fact that perpetrators now deploy technology as yet another tool for controlling and abusing their victims. Could you tell us about how this resource came to be created and how you plan to further develop it in the future?
One of the things Women’s Shelters Canada (WSC) does is identify promising practices or projects across the country and work with the original creators to scale them up nationwide. With TechSafety.ca, we approached one of our provincial association members, the British Columbia Society of Transition Houses (BCSTH), about scaling up their tech safety project.
We seconded BCSTH’s tech safety staff person to work for us for two years after securing funding from the Canadian government to create Tech Safety Canada. We launched it in 2023 and continue to add new resources, such as a digital financial abuse toolkit, an assistive technology toolkit, and resources specific to rural, remote, northern, and Indigenous shelters. We offer training on tech-facilitated gender-based violence and are looking to expand that training in future. We have also successfully advocated for Canada to adopt a voluntary Code of Conduct for the Prevention of Economic Abuse, including digital financial abuse, which we’re now working on how to implement with financial institutions.
7. One of the keys to eradicating violence against women (VAW) is to get men and boys on board efforts to do so. What do you think are the most effective ways of galvanising men and boys to help to end VAW?
I think the most important thing is to call men and boys IN rather than call them OUT. We’re not villainising men or saying that all men are the problem; rather, we’re showing how patriarchy and toxic masculinity negatively affect everyone. It’s the cause of violence against women AND high suicide rates amongst men. We can all be part of the solution in creating safe, healthy lives free from violence for everyone.
I think it’s very important to have strong, positive male role models who talk about the issues facing men in non-misogynistic ways. Canadian organisations like Next Gen Men and The White Ribbon Campaign are examples of some excellent work being done right now.
8. Tell us about Women’s Shelters Canada’s plans for the future. What campaigns, programmes, or projects do you have coming up in the next 5 years?
We recently went through a strategic planning process and have a three-year strat plan, which outlines our next chapter. Our three strategic directions are (1) Strong Foundations, Brave Futures; (2) Learning into Action, and (3) Voices that Move Policy and Power.
In the shorter term, we’re expanding our Domestic Violence & Your Workplace training over the next year. Longer term, we’re expanding our work on tech safety and supporting shelters with new builds. We are also looking to increase public awareness of VAW and the work shelters do through strategic communications, such as social media campaigns and engagement with traditional media.
9. How can The Pixel Project’s supporters engage with and support the efforts of Women’s Shelters Canada to stop VAW?
We always encourage donations directly to your local shelter; so much good comes from investing in your own community. Of course, we also accept donations to our projects as well.
Another big thing is to interact with and share our work – let people know about ShelterSafe.ca and TechSafety.ca, for example. If you work in Canada, ask your employer to sign up for our Domestic Violence & the Workplace training (see ReferHer.ca). Sign up for our newsletter.
And finally, let the people in your lives know that you are a safe person to speak to. That if someone confides in you about experiencing violence, you’ll believe them and help them find support. And on the flip side, challenge people who make misogynistic comments or jokes. Let them know that misogyny is no laughing matter.
10. In your considered opinion, how can we end VAW for good?
We need an all-of-society approach where everyone knows they have a role to play and plays that role. We need to be thinking of this on an individual level, as well as within our family, community, and as part of the global eco-system. In the roadmap to the NAP GBV report that Women’s Shelters Canada led, we identified four pillars of the Plan: prevention, proper infrastructure, supports for survivors, and legal protections. To end VAW, we need all of these things working together, equally applied and resourced. We can’t give more attention to one over the other. Working together, all systems and all people, we have a real chance to end VAW for good.
