About Durham Rape Crisis Centre
Annual Reports & Strategic Plans
What is a Strategic Plan?
A strategic plan is a tool to define where an organization wants to go and what actions need to be taken to achieve those goals.
Strategic Plan 2020-2023 (1-Page)
What is an Annual Report?
An annual report is a comprehensive account of an organization’s activities throughout the preceding fiscal year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the organization’s activities and financial performance. The Durham Rape Crisis Centre presents our newest annual report during the Annual General Meeting.
Mission, Vision, Values
Mission
The Durham Rape Crisis Centre is a feminist organization focused on providing holistic healing and support services through crisis intervention, individual and group counselling, awareness, prevention education, community development, and advocacy, empowering those who have been impacted by sexual violence in our community.
Vision
The Durham Rape Crisis Centre strives to be leaders in ending sexual violence through support services, advocacy, and education.
Values
The Durham Rape Crisis Centre follows these key organizational principles and values, which are the foundation for the services which are provided and the key behaviours which the organization embraces:
- Social Justice
- Feminist
- Anti-racist and anti-oppressive (ARAO)
- Client-centred
- Accessible
- Collaborative
- Trauma-informed
- Intersectionality
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
- Non-judgmental
- Respectful
- Confidential
Our Anti-Oppressive Philosophy and Basis of Unity
The origin of sexual violence is rooted within the 3,000-year-old tradition of patriarchy, which continues to place men in positions of power over women and children. Sexual violence is tragic and continues to be an epidemic not only in the Durham Region, Ontario, or Canada, but in the world as a whole.
Public awareness about this crime has grown considerably due to the courage of survivors of sexual abuse/assault who dare to break the silence. Awareness is not enough to make it stop. It is only the beginning.
The Durham Rape Crisis Centre believes that we must be united throughout society in order to challenge and change existing beliefs, attitudes, policies, and procedures that discriminate on the basis of sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, classism, sexual orientation, ableism, ageism, weightism, marital status, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds. We have the responsibility to challenge and to question the existing policies and procedures that exist. We recognize the need to fight the systems and structures that perpetuate oppression against us.
The Durham Rape Crisis Centre is committed to the eradication of sexual violence in our society in order for all women and children to safely occupy their own bodies and beings as is their fundamental human right.
Please read more about our ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our region: Diversity Equity Incluson Community of Practice – Durham Region Commitment Statement.
Durham Rape Crisis Centre Background/Herstory
The Oshawa-Durham Rape Crisis Centre was established in 1974 by a group of women who recognized the need for support, counselling, and education in the area of sexual violence. At that time, the existing services did not adequately meet the needs of those who had been assaulted.
Initially, the Centre was run and funded by a group of women who volunteered their time. They believed so strongly in the power of sharing one’s experiences that they used their own baby bonus money to support a crisis line that, to this day, continues to support the community of Durham Region.
Since 1974, the Centre has been providing services to thousands of individuals within the Durham Region.
In 1979, the Oshawa-Durham Rape Crisis Centre was moved to the Oshawa area.
In 1990, the Ministry of the Attorney General became our core funding source. Due to this core funding, the Centre was able to respond to the needs of women 16 years of age and older who were affected by sexual violence.
Also in 1990, a Children’s Program was formally established by the Centre as a means to continue to provide counselling and support, prevention, and education to children and youth who were victims of sexual assault/abuse in the Durham Region. This program, however, did not have core funding and was only able to survive through continuous fundraising efforts.
We are presently an incorporated, non-profit, registered charitable Rape Crisis Centre. We are a member of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres and thus, receive support and education from across the province of Ontario.
In 2004, the Children’s Program had to be put on hold as a result of lack of funding. Our goal is to resume this very valuable service once core funding is established for this Program.
In 2016, the Oshawa-Durham Rape Crisis Centre moved to a wonderful space in Oshawa where it remains today as cohesive and as strong as ever!
In 2019, we welcomed several staff including our Executive Director, Gemma Broderick.
In 2020, our team transitioned to remote services to accommodate our pandemic safety plan.
In 2022, we graciously received the 2021/2022 Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General’s Victim Services Awards of Distinction!