Abbreviation DAWN Type Women's Organization Headquarters Montréal, Québec | Formation June 20–23, 1985, Legal status active | |
Purpose advocate and public voice, educator and network | ||
DAWN Canada/Réseau d'action des femmes handicapées du Canada is a Canadian national feminist network controlled by and composed of women who self-identify as women with disabilities. The network also supports local and provincial chapters. DAWN is a member organization of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, Canada's largest feminist organization.
Contents
History
The organization began on June 20–23, 1985, at a meeting between seventeen women from across Canada who came together to discuss issues of interest to women with various disabilities. The main purpose of this initial meeting was to plan a larger national gathering of disabled women who would then develop the organization's strategies and goals. Early groups formed in Prince Edward Island, Toronto, Halifax, British Columbia, and Montreal and in Winnipeg, that city's existing group for women with disabilities, the Consulting Committee on the Status of Women with Disabilities also joined the network.
Mission
DAWN Canada's mission is "to end the poverty, isolation, discrimination and violence experienced by women with disabilities, and to fight for women with disabilities to have freedom of choice in all aspects of their lives."