Victim Services Toronto (VST) has partnered with 72andSunny Toronto to expand its proven community-based safety initiative, Ask for Angela, through new partnerships and a multi-channel awareness campaign designed to meet people where they are and connect them to support when they need it most. As part of this expansion, VST is introducing the out-of-home campaign alongside a new series of PSA films, working together to both increase awareness of the realities victims face and provide clear, accessible pathways to help across the city. “In Toronto, police already record 17,000 to 19,000 intimate partner violence occurrences in the average year, with recent data showing a double‑digit year‑over‑year increase in reports despite chronic underreporting,” shared Victim Services Toronto CEO Carly Kalish. “There’s clearly an urgent need for Ask for Angela’s increased presence across Toronto, while also presenting a long-term, infrastructure-building opportunity to make pathways to help more consistently available, convenient, and approachable.” To expand local pathways to safety and professional support, VST first introduced Ask for Angela in the GTA in fall 2023. The trauma-informed safety initiative--which originated in the U.K. in 2016 and celebrates its 10-year global anniversary this year--allows people experiencing gender-based violence or exploitation to discreetly signal for immediate support at partnering locations using the code phrase: “Is Angela here?” The newly launched OOH campaign discreetly shares VST’s resources, disguising the Ask for Angela messaging into ads for makeup, skincare, and menstrual products. Through its Loblaw Companies Limited partnership, the community-based program has already effectively embedded an... Read More