The Shield of Athena Family Services is a non-profit community based organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and children victims of conjugal and family violence, particularly those coming from ethnic and Anglophone communities. The Shield offers services in a wide variety of languages and uses an approach which is both culturally and linguistically attuned to the needs of the ethnic communities. With one office in Laval and the other in Montreal, it is involved in three core activities:

• Specialized, multilingual, services for victims available at the Montreal and Laval offices

• The Shelter (Athena’s House) provides a multilingual, safe and empowering environment for women and their children victims of family violence

• Multilingual services for communities which informs communities in their language of origin on various topics related to family and conjugal violence