Spirit of Barbra Schlifer Award Recipients
Past Award Recipients
In 2012, the Barbra Schlifer Clinic launched the first Spirit of Barbra Schlifer Award. The Award recognizes a woman or gender-diverse person whose career demonstrates their commitment to disrupting gender-based violence and whose work is advancing equality, social justice and human rights for all women and gender-diverse folx.

Leilani Farha, 2013

Geri Sanson, 2014

Deepa Mattoo, 2015

Fay Faraday, 2016

Loly Rico, 2017

Dawn Lavell-Harvard, 2017

Elaine Craig and Sunny Mariner, 2019

Abi Ajibolade, 2021

Christa Big Canoe, 2021
Each year, the Clinic opens nominations for a woman or gender-diverse people to be considered for the Award. The nominee is selected based on her outstanding commitment to disrupting gender-based violence and supporting women, those who self-identify as “woman,” including cisgender, transgender, intersex, Two Spirit and gender non-conforming folks, who want to build lives free from violence through increased access to justice and other systems. She is recognized for advocacy in the violence against women’s sector through her paid employment, community leadership or volunteer work. The successful candidate’s work will exemplify her understanding of the important intersections of gender, race, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, geographic isolation/disadvantage, disability, and religious belief in building lives free from violence.
Nominations for the 2023 Spirit of Schlifer Award will open in March 2023.
Spirit of Schlifer
Gender-based violence continues to be one of the most underreported crimes in Canada. Shame, fear of revenge, criminalization, normalization of unwanted sexual behaviour, and not knowing where to turn or whom to trust are among the reasons people don’t report. Help ensure safe places and resources like those at the Clinic are available to survivors. Let’s NORMALIZE reporting gender-based violence by providing the supports survivors need most.