The Court Watch program was undertaken to gain a preliminary understanding of how woman abuse influenced custory and access orders in family court decisions. Findings based on observations of family court proceedings and analyses of case files reveal a number of key issues relating impact of children on outcomes, inconsistency in custody and access to abusive fathers, inconsistency of how abuser access to children was affected by presence of high-risk indicators, delays or adjournments because of lack of interpretation services, and a lack of information avaialble to women about how to use the family court system in cases of domestic violence.
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This fact sheet provides statistics, definitions, and short answers in response to frequently asked questions about VAW. Topics covered include:
- Sexual consent
- Crime rates and VAW in Canada
- Domestic rates
- Types of VAW
- Causes of VAW
- Violence against men compared with VAW
- Why women don't leave abusive relationships
- Who is at risk
- Effect on children
- How to help
- How can we stop VAW
This paper outlines the nature of the gendered problem of domestic violence within an equality framework. The kinds of redress and remedies needed to stop intimate partner violence are juxtaposed against the inadequate conceptual framework offered by the current legal approach to equality articulated by the Supreme Court of Canada. Some initial and broad suggestions about what some possible legal strategies might look like which engage equality and other Charter rights to address and end the problem of domestic violence in women’s lives are presented. Specifically, it is highlighted that even though the opportunity of posing a direct section 15 challenge in relation to domestic violence has yet to materialize or be seized, the failure of state action in this area - the absence of adequate legal protections for assaulted women - poses a violation of a number of Charter rights that should be actionable.
The is final report from the Standing Committee on the Status of Women since mandated in 2010 to underake research on the extent, types, causes and remedies on Violence Against Aboriginal Women in Canada. In this final report, the Committee has shifted its focus from the aftermath of the violence to empowering young Aboriginal girls and women, supporting their desire to strive for a better life of independence, confidence, influence and power, with the goal of reducting the victimization, poverty, prostitution and abuse experieneced by Aboriginal women and girls.
Submitted Dec 2011 to the 41st Parliament, 1st Session, by Irene Mayyssen, MP, and Chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women.
This book is intended to offer communities a guiding framework to develop interventions and measure progress as they seek to improve their responses to families experiencing domestic violence and child maltreatment (child abuse). It answers the questions: How can child protection services work together with domestic violence service providers to enhance the safety of multiple victims in violent homes? How can juvenile courts protect children when their mothers are being abused without re-victimizing the mother? How can communities protect battered mothers and their children and hold abusers accountable for their violence?
*Reproduced with Permission from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
This interim report looks at the progress towards implementing recommendations made in the final report of the Domestic Violence Advisory Council in 2009, "Transforming our Communities". It covers progress in the areas of:
- better community-based supports for victims
- identifying women at risk and early intervention
- changing attitudes to prevent domestic violence
- strengthening the justice system response
- improved access and equity to government services and programs
- better access to french-language services
- recognizing the unique needs of Aboriginal peoples
This report is based on consultations with service providers and others on the evolution of French-language services (FLS) over the previous decade and proposes various elements which may guide future development. Some of the key priorites identified are:
- political commitment from the provincial government to redress historical inequities in funding FLS
- measures to ensure accountability to government and the Francophone community
- increase in core funding for 24/7 crisis services
- development of SACs and Shelters servicing Francophone women in key identified areas
- increased investment and development in conjunction with community-based anti-violence groups at the local and provincial levels
OAITH letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Dec 7, 2006, regarding elimination of the Court Challenges program and changes to the Status of Women mandate and funding. Concerns are raised about failing to recongizing the critical links between advocacy and equality, and OAITH calls on the government to reinstate programs and funding that are needed to increase women's safety and prevent violence against women.