Justice for Girls (JFG) , is a Vancouver-based non-profit organization and registered charity that promotes equality, freedom from violence, and the health and wellness of teenage girls who live in poverty. Teenage girls in poverty face many inequalities and barriers, including disproportionately high rates of institutionalization, criminalization, violence and sexual assault. For Indigenous girls, these are compounded by racism and the intergenerational impacts of colonization.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the existing inequitable socio-economic conditions that impoverished girls live with daily. The lack of safe and supported housing, opportunities for financial independence, and accessible, consistent, targeted support has heightened the barriers faced by girls in poverty. Anti-violence organizations all over the world have reported a sudden spike in violence against women and girls as a result of this pandemic. Yet, little funding has been designated to addressing the disproportionate impacts of this pandemic on impoverished teenage girls, particularly on those who are Indigenous or racialized or living in precarious housing. 

Girls in poverty cannot shelter in place without shelter. Girls in poverty cannot maintain distance learning without access to the internet, technology, and a safe place to study.  Girls in poverty cannot escape violence if they experience it where they live: at home, in prisons, in child welfare placements, at co-ed youth shelters, and on the streets. 

Everyone deserves a safe place to live, to learn and to safely socially isolate during this time. Help Justice for Girls advocate for girls’ freedom from violence and poverty, as well as their access to education and health and wellness supports. 

We deeply appreciate your generous donation during these uncertain and challenging times! Your gift allows us to advocate for girls, many of whom are feeling alone, unsupported, and unsafe right now. 

As an organization uniquely dedicated to promoting the equality of teenage girls in poverty, your donation is critical to the success of our advocacy program, our ability to increase public awareness on the issues teenage girls in poverty face daily, and our goal of achieving lasting and progressive change in the systems that impact girls’ lives.