Native Women’s Association gets $25K donation from Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto announced a $25,000 donation to the Native Women’s Association (NWA) to help support women and children experiencing domestic and family violence on Tuesday.

The money is part of a larger $360,000 donation from the company to 12 women’s shelters and organizations across the country.

Thanking Rio Tinto for the donation, NWA president Jane Weyallon said in a news release, “Over the past 40 years, the Native Women’s Association of the NWT has heard the cries from men, women and children as a result of physical abuse, assault, rape, crimes, and other types of aggression.

“This donation will allow our front-line workers to offer more than our compassionate care and support. We can now offer ‘personal care packages’ with the immediate necessities, to the NWT’s most vulnerable people, during their time of trauma.”

Weyallon added the funding will also support the NWA’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls commemoration project.

“As part of the 16 days of activism against gender based violence, we are showing our support for women experiencing domestic and family abuse and for the dedicated professionals who help protect and empower them,” Rio Tinto’s Canadian lead Alf Barrios was quoted as saying.