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Release: Hate speech hearing set to begin at the BC Human Rights Tribunal

11/12/2018Gender-based violence Press

VANCOUVER – This week, West Coast LEAF will intervene at the BC Human Rights Tribunal in a complaint arising under the BC Human Rights Code’s prohibition against discriminatory publications. The case, Oger v Whatcott, will be heard over five days, from December 11-14, and on December 17. In 2017, Morgane Oger ran for political office as an … Read more Release: Hate speech hearing set to begin at the BC Human Rights Tribunal

Release: Report card on gender equality in BC released

06/12/2018Access to justice, Criminalization, Economic security, Family well-being, Gender-based violence, Healthcare Press

VANCOUVER – Today, West Coast LEAF released its 10th annual Report Card on the rights of women in BC. The report card shows that although BC’s grades have improved in six areas, further progress is needed for the province to satisfy its international obligations to women’s human rights. Advancements in areas such as child care are encouraging, but … Read more Release: Report card on gender equality in BC released

Release: Legal aid case must proceed despite the government’s attempt to stop it

03/12/2018Access to justice, Family well-being Press

VANCOUVER – West Coast LEAF has filed a response to the Province’s and the Legal Services Society’s efforts to bring our case challenging BC’s family law legal aid regime to an end. Last year, West Coast LEAF sued the BC government and the Legal Services Society (“LSS) for the harms caused by BC’s family law legal aid regime to women leaving abusive … Read more Release: Legal aid case must proceed despite the government’s attempt to stop it

The Feminist Argument for Proportional Representation

07/11/2018Access to justice Update

I’m passionate about voting. I vote wherever and whenever I have the opportunity. What I don’t love is feeling like my vote doesn’t count or feeling forced to vote “strategically,” not for who I want to win, but against the person I definitely hope will lose. If you’re in a riding that’s considered “safe,” perhaps … Read more The Feminist Argument for Proportional Representation

Release: New report details why women often do not report sexual assault through the criminal justice system – in their own words

05/11/2018Access to justice, Gender-based violence Press

VANCOUVER – Today, West Coast LEAF released a report about why women often do not report sexual assault through the criminal justice system – in women’s own voices. We Are Here: Women’s Experiences of the Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault centres women’s experiences of the devastating impacts of sexual assault, which are all too often deepened by the legal system’s … Read more Release: New report details why women often do not report sexual assault through the criminal justice system – in their own words

One Mouth and Two Ears: Setting Intentions for the Sisters in Spirit Vigil

03/10/2018Access to justice, Gender-based violence Update

Tomorrow, October 4, is the annual Sisters in Spirit Vigil. This is a day to honour and remember Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit, and gender-diverse people; those we have lost to ongoing colonial and misogynistic violence across Turtle Island (otherwise known as North America). The Native Women’s Association of Canada describes the vigils as a … Read more One Mouth and Two Ears: Setting Intentions for the Sisters in Spirit Vigil

The Feminist Tent

20/09/2018Access to justice, Criminalization, Economic security, Family well-being, Gender-based violence, Healthcare Update

West Coast LEAF has long been a trans-inclusive organization – to some extent. Since 2003, we have explicitly defined “women” as encompassing all those who define themselves as women, whatever their sex assignment at birth. The hard part for us in recent years has been whether and how to include people who don’t define themselves as women; … Read more The Feminist Tent

Release: Supreme Court Says No to Discriminatory Law School Admissions

15/06/2018Access to justice, Gender-based violence Press

VANCOUVER – West Coast LEAF welcomes the Supreme Court of Canada’s judgments, released today, in two cases concerning admissions to a proposed law school at Trinity Western University (“TWU”), an Evangelical Christian university located in Langley, BC. The Court ruled that the mandatory Covenant at TWU creates inequitable barriers to entry to their proposed law … Read more Release: Supreme Court Says No to Discriminatory Law School Admissions

Release: National inquiry six-month extension “too little, too late,” say coalition members

11/06/2018Access to justice, Gender-based violence Press

COAST SALISH TERRITORY – VANCOUVER – Members of the BC Coalition on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (the coalition) are deeply disappointed that Canada has granted only a six-month extension to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (the inquiry). Many Indigenous, civil society, and front-line service organizations supported the … Read more Release: National inquiry six-month extension “too little, too late,” say coalition members

Release: Changes to National Inquiry needed to meaningfully meet its mandate

14/05/2018Access to justice, Gender-based violence Press

VANCOUVER – This morning, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (“Inquiry”) begins the first of four days of expert hearings. West Coast LEAF is in Quebec City for the hearings, which are focused on understanding a human rights framework for the Inquiry’s work. The Inquiry has a mandate to identify and examine … Read more Release: Changes to National Inquiry needed to meaningfully meet its mandate