This is one a series of periodic reports by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF Canada). It summarizes data and analysis on the availability and affordability of housing in Ontario. The focus is on vacancy rates, rental housing production, changes in rents, incomes and housing affordability.
This report documents the Sisters In Spirit Research Findings from 2010. These stories were told by the friends, families, and communities of the missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. The research begins with an introduction to the Native Women's Association of Canada. It then explores the issues and statistics related to violence against Aboriginal Women, including mothers and children, addiction and suicide, police and the system, and human trafficking.
This report takes a close look at the system of Welfare (Ontario Works, or OW), looking at the rules, how violations are defined, investigated and processed, and the types of sentences imposed on those found to be guilty of 'fraud'. The analysis uses interviews with lawyers and community legal workers as well as secondary materials. The report concludes that the receipt of social assistance has itself become criminalized through the category of welfare fraud where simply being on social assistance results in being seen as a penal object under moral scrutiny. Further, this criminalization is very gendered because the majority of social assistance recipients are women and single mothers.
Authors: Janet Mosher, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and Joe Hermer, Division of Social Sciences, University of Toronto at Scarborough.
This report summarizes research of women's experiences with disability and welfare assistance after leaving violent situations. The findings show that women have profoundly negative experiences of social assistance and income support, with inadequate resources for themselves and their children, a system that is difficult to navigate, and complex rules. Additionally, it was found that the welfare system is misused by abusive men to enhance their power and control. The authors argue for a fundamental paradigm shift in order to change women's experiences of feeling humiliated, treated with suspicion, subject to control and discipline of state and lacking options. Without such a change, women will continue to return to abusive relationships, will not be safe, and will not be equal citizens.
Co-authors: Janet Mosher (York University), Patricia Evans (Carleton University), Marget Little (Queen's University)
Community Partners: Eileen Morrow (OAITH); Jo-Anne Boulding & Nancy VanderPlaats (Ontario Social Safety Network)
The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) conducted public consultations in 2009-2010 as an early stage in a larger family law project on best practices on entry points to the family justice system.This paper summarizes what was learned about experiences and barrierrs to legal processes. The consultations indicate that prevention and early intervention, through the development and better management of entry point services, can help resolve family challenges and progems in a more effecdtive way and prevent solvable problems from becoming unsolvable.
Presents and analyzes statistical findings of women's experience of violent crime in Canada during 2009. Statistics are broken down to show impact of victimization by age and by type of crime (spousal violence, non-spousal violence, use of weapons). The report also looks at reporting rates, perceptions of the criminal justice system, and sense of safety of Aboriginal women.
The Vecova Centre for Disability Services and Research was commissioned by the Canadian Women's Foundation (CWF) to doncut this review to inform CWF on key issues and trends related to violence against women with disabilities in Canada and to assit them to develop a long-term strategy for preventing violence against women. the report addresses key barriers for women with disabilities experiencing violence including safe disclosure, accessing the justice system, absence of supports for networks, absence of health care intervention, lack of sensitivty training for professionals, lack of violence prevention training for women with disabilities, and lack of funding and resources to enhance accessibility of intervention services.