2018 Annual Report
Read our 2018 Annual Report. to learn about West Coast LEAF’s work for gender justice in the 2017/2018 fiscal year. Publications
Read our 2018 Annual Report. to learn about West Coast LEAF’s work for gender justice in the 2017/2018 fiscal year. Publications
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
On December 6th, 2018, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, West Coast LEAF released our 10th annual CEDAW Report Card, grading BC on nine issues impacting women’s human rights, including child protection, a new section introduced this year. The Report Card assesses BC’s record in 2018 in relation to obligations set out … Read more 2018 CEDAW Report Card
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
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
About the report As part of our Dismantling the Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault project with YWCA Metro Vancouver, our 2018 law reform report is about why survivors often do not report through the criminal justice system – in their own words. We Are Here: Women’s Experiences of the Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault centers women’s experiences of the devastating … Read more We Are Here: Women’s Experiences of the Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault
In October 2018, West Coast LEAF urged BC’s Finance Committee to make gender equality a budget priority for 2019. In particular, we highlighted the gendered dynamics of poverty and called for BC to invest in measures to promote economic security. Read our submissions. Submissions
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
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
Case summary In BC, the Human Rights Code (“Code”) sets out laws to protect and promote human rights, including protection from discrimination and harassment based on gender identity and gender expression, which are protected grounds in the Code. West Coast LEAF believes that the link between discrimination and hate speech against gender-diverse people is clear. The case, Morgane … Read more Morgane Oger v William Whatcott [2018]