We are excited to share that our next edition of the Gender Equality Report Card will be coming soon in January 2023. This report monitors BC’s progress in advancing gender equality in 2021 and 2022. It focuses on two key areas: economic security and access to health care. The Report Card is a key avenue … Read more Coming soon: Gender Equality Report Card
In Canada, Equal Pay Day is April 12. It symbolizes how far into the current year the average woman must work to earn what the average man earned in the previous year. BC has one of the highest gender pay gaps in Canada. The gap is much worse for women and gender-diverse people who are … Read more Equal Pay Day Today and Everyday
Earlier this week, we were at BC’s 2022 Budget presentation in Victoria on the unceded Coast Salish homelands of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. While West Coast LEAF welcomes BC’s announcement that it will reverse cuts that were made in 2002 and provide core funding to community-based sexual assault response organizations, Budget 2022 fails to … Read more BC’s Budget 2022 fails to take bold action on gender-based violence
Budget Day is fast approaching in BC, and one thing is clear: the 2022 Budget cannot be a return to the status quo. This is chance for BC to action commitments to gender equity, so that we may reimagine what is possible instead of returning to what was. It’s a historic opportunity to learn lessons … Read more Budget 2022 – What’s at Stake?
Over the last two days, we have been at the Supreme Court of Canada intervening in Council of Canadians with Disabilities v British Columbia – a case that will have a major impact on the ability of public interest organizations to bring legal cases on behalf of marginalized communities. We intervened to argue that organizations like West … Read more We’re back in court to defend access to justice
We’re headed to the Supreme Court of Canada tomorrow for a case that will affect how courts identify family violence, protect survivors, and ensure the best interests of children. Barendregt v Grebliunas is about when and how an appeal court can consider new information when deciding a family law appeal. However, it also raises concerns about whether … Read more Breaking: We’re back at the Supreme Court of Canada!
We’re headed to the Supreme Court of Canada tomorrow, for a case that has huge implications for consent law. R. v Kirkpatrick will decide whether it is sexual assault under the law when a person insists their partner wear a condom and their partner then removes it without consent or sabotages the condom. Non-consensual condom removal (often … Read more We’ll be at the Supreme Court tomorrow!
West Coast LEAF has long believed that one of the best ways to advance legal rights is to support people to know their rights and understand how to use them. At the same time, we know that legal rights on paper are often painfully disconnected from people’s real lives. Legal recourse can be hard or … Read more New report offers wise practices for learner-centred, justice-seeking legal education
A two-day hearing that has significant implications for how courts handle sexual assault cases is underway at the Supreme Court of Canada. We are intervening alongside Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre, formerly WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre, in the two appeals being heard together—R. v J.J. and A.S. v Her Majesty the Queen et al. These cases are about … Read more We’re at the Supreme Court of Canada today to fight for protections for sexual assault survivors in criminal trials
West Coast LEAF and Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre, formerly WAVAW, have been granted leave to jointly intervene in two appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada that address the constitutionality of new protections for complainants in sexual assault trials. The cases, R. v J.J. (an appeal and cross-appeal arising out of BC), and A.S. v Her Majesty the Queen (an … Read more Defending the privacy and equality rights of sexual assault survivors