Rio Tinto has announced that they will be donating $350,000 to 14 different organizations across the country to help provide greater services to people affected by gender-based violence.
This is the fifth year in a row that Rio Tinto has made a contribution to such organizations as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The 16 Days event is a national campaign that started in 1991 to help raise awareness regarding violence that is committed against girls, women, and members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community.
Rio Tinto has sought out groups that provide shelters, counselling services, education, and training programs to those who have suffered from gender-based violence in the past.
The Diavik Diamond Mine has supported the Native Women’s Association of the NWT with a donation of $25,000.
Agatha Laboucan, the Executive Director of the Native Women’s Association, called the donation “generous,” and said that it “reflects Rio Tinto and Diavik Diamond Mine’s commitment to our society’s most vulnerable members. We look forward to using these funds to continue our mission to ensure that all Indigenous women in the NWT and their families are empowered, supported, and safe, and are treated with dignity and respect.”
