this project was undertaken to learn more about the needs of abused women in Durham Region who are unrepresented through their family court experiences in order to be able to better develop and support appropriate services for them. Using focus group data of women survivors of violence, community workers, legal support workers and lawyers, this report presents an analysis and recommendations for what is needed to ensure women can navigate the family court system without legal representation.
This booklet is intended as a resource for frontline health and social service providers, media, and the general public, police, sex workers, and anyone who wants to be an ally to sex workers. It aims to provide an overivew of the challenges confronting sex workers in Ontario, speak to the diversity within th eindustry and present strategies for change. Topics covered include: laws impacting sex workers in ONtario (Federal, Provincial, Municipal); Mobilization of Sex Workers; Historical Background; Diversity in the Sex Industry in Ontario; police and criminal justice system, stigma and whorephobia, and Indigenous People in the Sex Trade.
This report looks at the impact of the 2012 Ontario budget cuts to the Community Start-Up and Maintenance Benefit (CSUMB) announced for January 2013. The CSUMB is designed to assist people receiving social assistance who have large or unexpected housing-related costs. Access to safe and affordable housing is a key determinant of health and the loss of the CSUMB has the potential to increase the number of low income Ontarians who are precariously houses or are homeless. This paper looks at the potential health implications of the cuts through an equity lens.
Produced by: Wellesley Institute, the Income Security Advocacy Centre, StreetHealth, Association of Ontario Health Centres, Peterboroough County-City Health Unit, ACTO
The Impacts of Recent Law Reforms on Abused Women Involved in the Family Court Process in Ontario: An Environmental Scan of Violence Against Women Service Providers explores the intersection of some of the legal issues women face (eg: mandatory charging practices, dual charging practices, impact related to changes to immigration and refugee process due to Bill C-11) and the family court experiences of women who have experienced violence.
Luke's Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children in collaboration with Action ontarienne contre la violence faite aux femmes and the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic. (November 2011)
This paper examines how relational distance, of the closeness of the relationship between intimate partners at the time violence occurs or is reported, impacts on court and legal decisions. The author examines whether 'separation' killings attract harsher sanctions than 'intact' killings, using 144 cases of intimate partner femicide in Toronto. The results demonstrate that offenders who kill estranged partners are treated more severely than those who kill current partners. Analyzing possible ways to interpret this differential legal treatment highlights assumptions that may undelrie such a punishment rationale.
This study identifies case characteristics of abused women in child protection services caseload. Results indicate that abused women are significantly more likely than non-abused women to have mental and physical health issues such as substance use, mental illness, iimpaired mental, emotional or intellectual capacity to care for children, a chronic medical conditions. They are also more likely to rely on social assistance and be unemployed, and less likely to have reliable social supports in place. Children of abused women are more likely to be in the care of child protection authorities.
Informed by two United Nations (UN) Handbooks on state approaches to VAW, this report evaluates: 1) how existing policy and legislation in Canada is working to effectively prevent violence, protect survivors or hold perpetrators accountable; and, 2) inconsistencies between how policies are written and adopted and their practical applications. The report used the UN Handbooks to identify policy areas, including:
- government strategies and action plans
- protection, support, assistance to complainants/survivors
- criminal justice responses
- child protection
- prevention
- monitoring and evaluation initiatives related to VAW
- policies related to gender equality and social justice
The conclusion is that Canada needs a National Action Plan on VAW to address identified deficiencies, inconsistencies, and gaps for meeting the UN standards.
This report documents the Survivor Voices Project, which encouraged women abuse survivors to provide ideas, insights and advice about community services & organizing, policy development, and systemic change. This was done through group meetings and surveys across Ontario. The results indicated that women survivors wanted improvement in police services, social assistance, the court system, child welfare, and low-income housing. The report includes women's narratives, educational and advocacy campaign tools, statistics, and best practices.
On April 9, 2012, OAITH made a subjimssion on the Amendment to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to raise concerns that the regulation meant to protect immigrant women from domestic violence will threaten women's right to safety and security rather than protect them from it. Further, OAITH is concerned that the impetus for the change is related to stop "marriage fraud" and, thus, fails to take the needs of women in abusive relationships into account.