Values

Advocacy

Its main purpose is to inform women of their rights, to actively support them in the exercise of asserting them, both individually and collectively. Advocacy also includes publicly and politically denouncing the socio-judicial treatment of sexually assaulted women and demanding change.

Social change

We are still coming to the same conclusions about the inequalities and injustices against women. The social and patriarchal structure of our society and its institutions must change because as such, they keep women in a secondary role and position, trivialize and enable violence against women and keep women in a state of vulnerability. Social change inevitably passes through the transmission of our values, our principles, and our feminist analysis of sexual assault.

Accessibility

It is reflected in the constant concern that the centre should be accessible from a geographical, cultural, structural and life experience point of view.

Equity

The center is concerned about equity first among women themselves. Second, it is careful to ensure equity between the activities and services offered in the various “sectors” of our territory and between the four (4) work streams: counselling, prevention-awareness, fight against sexual violence and administration. It is seen as the backbone of our struggles for equal rights of women with men, which aimed to ensure that women were accepted as full-fledged citizens and seen as equal members capable of emancipating themselves economically, culturally, legally, politically, and socially. Equality also exists between women themselves, meaning that their respective rights, responsibilities, and opportunities do not depend on whether they were born, for example, of one colour or another, with or without a disability, etc.

Democracy

It represents a fundamental value of the CALACS, which was established “by and for women”. It is central to the functioning of our organization, which is based on the sharing of power between the authorities, the workers and, more broadly, the people who frequent it.

Integrity

The center wants to be coherent and consistent with its values ​​both in practice and in theory. The values ​​that are advocated are present both in intervention with sexually assaulted women, in prevention-awareness, in representations and in the functioning and management of the organization.

Solidarity

For us, it is synonymous with mutual aid and complicity between all the women who frequent the organization, regardless of their status.

It also translates in the collaborations and actions carried out with and for other women’s groups and other community groups, for example, on issues related to the status of women or the recognition and autonomy of community groups.

Transparency and honesty

It is important for members of the Collective, workers and interns to be transparent and honest both in the information they hold and share with others and in all their actions.

Respect

It is based on the importance of considering the values ​​and philosophy of the CALACS in all its practices, with the concern of not undermining them.

Respect must also be at the heart of relations between all the women who work and gravitate within the CALACS. In this sense, interpersonal and professional relationships must be free from all forms of violence and harassment.