Oxfam Canada Partners with Hot Docs to Raise Awareness about Violence against Women and Girls

Oxfam Canada is proud to partner with Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival to tell the stories of brave women speaking up about violence against women and girls in Canada and around the world. 

From the extraordinary tale of a group of female cyclists defying the rules in the Afghan mountains, to the inspiring activism of a sexual assault survivor challenging rape culture on a Toronto campus, Oxfam Canada is presenting a 10-film series called Silence Breakers. These documentaries explore the social norms and institutional failures that perpetuate violence against women and girls, while offering hope for a better future.

This is the second year Oxfam Canada is celebrating female filmmakers at Hot Docs – North America’s largest documentary film festival. 

“We are in the midst of a dramatic shift in how society talks about and deals with violence against women and girls. By amplifying the voices and lived experience of incredible female storytellers, we hope these films will spark the important and often difficult conversations that lead to lasting change,” said Julie Delahanty, Executive Director of Oxfam Canada.  

“The issues explored in this series are at the heart of the important work Oxfam does around the world to end violence against women and girls, which impacts every segment of society. We are proud to continue supporting Hot Docs this year.”

A special Silence Breakers Panel Discussion, facilitated by Julie Delahanty, Executive Director of Canada Canada, will take place on Saturday April 28 at 10:30am at TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 (seats are limited). Panelists include:

Laura Bari – Director of PRIMAS 
Sahra Mani – Director of A Thousand Girls Like Me
Kelly Showker – Director of Slut or Nut: Diary of a Rape Trail
Irene Lusztig – Director of Yours in Sisterhood
Mayssam Zaaroura – Women’s Rights Knowledge Specialist, Oxfam Canada

Oxfam Canada’s collaboration with Hot Docs to present the Silence Breakers film series is a unique opportunity to connect genuine stories about real people experiencing the issues at the heart of Oxfam’s work. Oxfam’s advocacy and long-term development projects like Creating Spaces to Take Action on Violence Against Women and Girls, aim to change systems and behaviours so that violence against women and girls becomes a thing of the past.