Eighteen local organizations have come together for a new response to gender-based violence, the need for which leaders call “tremendous.”

Hub Without Walls, a three-year project, will see more people working in Windsor and Essex County to discuss services for survivors of intimate partner violence, domestic violence, and human trafficking — a way to identify those experiencing violence early and connect them with help.

“We know the courage that it takes for women to decide to leave a situation, to come forward about a sexual assault — it takes tremendous courage,” Carol Branget, executive director at the Sexual Assault Crisis Centre, told reporters on Thursday.

“Being able to offer services at the time that they’re ready is really important.”

The project, which received $2.5 million f

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