Driven by a spirit of social justice, the RQCALACS (Quebec Coalition of Sexual Assault Help Centers) seeks to promote social, legal and political change.
The work of the RQCALACS and its members is part of autonomous community action. It is part of a long democratic and participatory tradition supported by a "by and for" vision.
The RQCALACS develops an intersectional feminist approach to understand better the different contexts of oppression intervening in the lives of adults and children and to adapt its practices according to the needs and realities of each individual.
Our Values
The RQCALACS (Quebec Coalition of Sexual Assault Help Centers) recognizes the importance of sharing power, information and resource access by establishing inclusive structures and appropriate measures. It also seeks to include groups of people who experience certain realities related to the intersection of the discriminations to which they are subject.
The RQCALACS recognizes and accepts the difference and autonomy of each body, each member center and each woman in its diversity. This difference can be expressed in their communications, healing processes and stances, as well as in their approaches.
The RQCALACS celebrates the mutual commitment of the various committees within the organization and the members, driven by a spirit of cooperation in the search for the common good and aiming for equality and social justice.
1975
A first CALACS (Sexual Assault Help Center) is born. Several other centers came to be in the following years. They faced the discriminatory attitudes from the police and legal system, the absence of adequate care and services from the medical system, and the scarcity of helpful resources.
1979
The RQCALACS (Quebec Coalition of Sexual Assault Help Centers) was set up to ensure the exchange of expertise between social workers and other experts, and to collaborate in the deployment of government policies to prevent sexual assault and support victims and survivors.
1983
The CALACS campaign and mobilize to demand a reform of the Criminal Code, which introduces the term “sexual assault,” the notion of marital rape and the idea that these crimes are violent in nature.
2017
It is the culmination of many years of prevention in schools. The RQCALACS, in collaboration with professor-researchers Manon Bergeron and Martine Hébert (UQAM), is launching the prevention program "Empreinte" for all high school students in Quebec.
TODAY
Quebec has approximately 40 CALACS-like resources, most of which are members of the RQCALACS.
Facing a still precarious economic posture and a system that requires an increasing level of professionalization, the RQCALACS intends to maintain a politicized analysis and practices, as well as collaboration between the centers and their allies.