Women’s Resource Centres are Antidotes to the Complex Issues Faced by Rural Women

International Rural Women’s Day takes place on the 15th of October. This day recognizes the role of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.

43% of Nova Scotians live in rural areas, and the Women’s Centres work to support women in these communities. Living in rural and remote areas often has challenges related to transportation, access to services and logistics. Life is often, additionally challenging for rural women given their greater responsibility in the agricultural labour force, informal work, and of course, the bulk of unpaid care and domestic work, but also because opportunities of support for well-being, safety and employment are even more difficult to obtain. Keep reading...

While more people are surviving a breast cancer diagnosis than ever before, it’s still the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among Canadian women.
About 7 out of every 1,000 pregnant women experience a stillbirth, according to Statistics Canada data,
Nearly half of the cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls remain unsolved. No charges were laid in about 40 percent of the cases.
4% of the Canadian population is Indigenous and female, yet they represented 24% of homicide victims in 2015.
Women living in the rural areas are less likely to qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) or EI-funded training because they tend to be self-employed, work part-time or seasonally.

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