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
Cities should be inclusive, welcoming places where people’s basic needs are met. Women who are accessing services to deal with the impacts of violence must not have to choose between their safety and their liberty. West Coast LEAF is calling on the City of Vancouver to become a “sanctuary city” in which everyone can access … Read more Letter on the Sanctuary City Policy
Read our 2014 Annual Report to learn about West Coast LEAF’s work for gender justice in the 2013/2014 fiscal year. Publications
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 signed on to this open letter opposing the federal government’s move to allow provinces to restrict access to social assistance for refugee claimants and others who have not yet been granted permanent residence. We believe that to deny social assistance based on immigration status is to cruelly deny the most vulnerable in our society … Read more Letter on Bill C-43 restricting access to Social Assistance for refugee claimants
Case summary This case is about the ongoing struggle to have women’s reproductive work fully recognized, and to ensure that all benefit schemes for parents and pregnant women are consistent with the requirements of substantive equality. The central legal issue in this case is whether a government employer who provides benefits to women who give … Read more BC Public School Employers’ Association v BC Teachers Federation [2014]
In September 2014, we released a new report entitled Able Mothers: The intersection of parenting, disability, and the law. The report was the result of our project on Mothering with Disabilities. Publications
As part of our Able Mothers project, we made submissions to the BC government’s Disability White Paper consultations on improving accessibility for people with disabilities. We highlighted the importance of taking strong action to address poverty, access to justice, and violence against women with disabilities, among other critical reforms. Read the submission. (PDF, 304 KB) Submissions
Read our 2013 Annual Report to learn about West Coast LEAF’s work for gender justice in the 2012/2013 fiscal year. Publications
In our annual submission to BC’s Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, we called on the BC government to prioritize women’s equality in the upcoming budget by, among other things, investing in legal aid, implementing the recommendations of the Missing Women’s Commission of Inquiry, and increasing funding to prevent and respond to male violence … Read more Submission to the 2014 Budget Consultations
