Tomorrow we release our 10th annual CEDAW Report Card. A lot has changed in BC since our last election in April 2017. A lot of promises have been made, and a lot of words spoken. This year, we are measuring whether all this talk has trickled down to make a real impact in the lives of women. … Read more Why a Report Card? CEDAW as a Tool for Accountability
VANCOUVER – Today, West Coast LEAF released its seventh annual report card on women’s rights in BC. While the situation for women in BC has seen minor improvements this year, unfortunately for many women, BC continues to fail to deliver on its responsibilities. In particular, BC has not taken action to address the ongoing violence against … Read more RELEASE: Report card finds that BC fails to make the grade in women’s equality
Case summary This case concerns the BC government’s approval of a proposed faculty of law at Trinity Western University (TWU), an evangelical Christian post-secondary institution in Langley. TWU requires all of its students and staff to sign a Community Covenant that includes a promise not to engage in “sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a … Read more Trinity Western University and Volkenant v Law Society of BC [2015]
West Coast LEAF provided a written submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee to inform the Committee’s preparation of a General Comment on Article 6 (Right to Life) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). We made this submission in order to ensure that the right to life under the ICCPR reflects … Read more Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on Article 6 (Right to Life)
We made submissions to the BC’s Ministry of Justice in response to the federal, provincial, and territorial Draft Justice Framework to Address Violence Against Aboriginal Women and Girls. We recommended that the Framework expressly recognize the history of colonization and its impact on Aboriginal people, the extensive research already done resulting in the call for a … Read more Letter on the Justice Framework to Address Violence Against Aboriginal Women and Girls
Read our 2014 Annual Report to learn about West Coast LEAF’s work for gender justice in the 2013/2014 fiscal year. Publications
On the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention against Torture and other forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, we joined dozens of other human rights organizations, legal groups, women’s equality organizations, ethno-cultural groups and many more calling on the federal government to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, … Read more Letter urging Canada to take action on torture
Case summary Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) v Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA) started as a human rights complaint against the DVBIA for their treatment of people who are homeless in the downtown core of Vancouver. In particular, it was concerned with the “removals” of this population from sidewalks and city parks by … Read more VANDU v DVBIA [2014]
We wrote to BC’s five Senators calling on them to pass Bill C-279 urgently and without amendment to ensure that the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code offer protection to trans people in Canada. Canada’s trans community faces extreme levels of violence, stigma and discrimination. Bill C-279 offers transgender Canadians protection from hate crimes under the Criminal Code and assured … Read more Letter on Bill C-279: An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Human Rights Act (Gender Identity)
Initiated by Justice for Girls, we wrote a joint letter to the Special Committee to Review the Independent Investigations Office describing the need for independent and accountable reviews of police-perpetrated sexual assaults, as well as our concerns that the Independent Investigations Office has not proven itself capable of carrying out these complex and sensitive investigations. … Read more Letter on the Mandate of the Independent Investigations Office