On May 27, we will launch our Gender Equality Report Card. We are excited to share this report assessing what the BC government has done—or failed to do—to advance gender justice and human rights between December 2018 and early April 2020. This year’s report builds on the work we have been doing over the last … Read more Meet the Report Card Partners
This family law case is about access to child support. The case clarified the situations in which a court can reduce a payor’s historical child support…
This report evaluates the legislative tools available to the province to address gender-based pay discrimination…
We, Anastasia, Ashley, Megan and Zev, are graduate students at the School of Public Policy at SFU. We are taking over this week’s FThis! Blog to speak about our partnership with West Coast LEAF on the BC Priorities Project, to analyze a pressing and long-standing societal problem: the gender pay gap. Below, we share our work … Read more Mind the Pay Gap: How Legislation Could Help End Pay Discrimination in BC
The many children in BC living in homes led by kinship caregivers should not be left out of the financial supports the federal government is providing to families during the COVID-19 crisis. This is why we have joined Parent Support Services Society of BC and other organizations in calling for the Canada Child Benefit to extend to … Read more Letter urging Canada Child Benefit eligibility for kinship caregivers
For survivors of sexual assault navigating the criminal legal system, the disclosure of private records and introduction of evidence about their sexual history can be a devastating intrusion. Concerns about this type of intrusion can also be a major barrier to reporting sexual assault or accessing counselling and other support services. In March 2020, as … Read more A toolkit for navigating section 276 and 278 Criminal Code matters as complainant counsel in criminal proceedings
VANCOUVER – Today, West Coast LEAF launched a toolkit for navigating the admissibility of evidence of a survivor’s sexual activity and the production of third-party records in criminal proceedings. Designed for lawyers representing survivors, the toolkit addresses section 276 and 278 Criminal Code matters. It provides an overview of the evolution of this area of law, practical advice for advancing … Read more Release: Survivors of sexual assault will be supported by a new legal toolkit to protect against invasive disclosure of private records and sexual history
In 2020-2021, we undertook an in-depth analysis of public legal education and information…
In these times of uncertainty where events are rapidly unfolding, it is hard not to feel overwhelmed and daunted by the challenges we must confront. Like many of you, West Coast LEAF’s staff team is in our fifth week of working remotely and maintaining social and physical distance to quell the spread of COVID-19. We … Read more Community in action: Ways you can support our most marginalized communities during Covid-19
While settling into work-and-do-everything-else-from-home mode, I’m thinking about those who must leave their homes and brave uncertain and potentially hostile terrain to secure safety and freedom from violence. Refugees are among those hardest hit by global crises – COVID-19 is no exception. At the time I write this, the border between Canada and the United States … Read more Refugee Rights are Human Rights: The United States is no safe country for refugee survivors of gender-based violence