Your Words Are Worth Something

Your Words Are Worth Something is a report based on findings from the Older Women’s Dialogue Project, a collaboration between West Coast LEAF and the Canadian Centre for Elder Law from 2012 to 2015. (The Canadian Centre for Elder Law carried out an additional phase of the project until 2017.) The Older Women’s Dialogue Project engaged with older women in the Lower Mainland to understand and act on the law and policy issues impacting their lives.

In 2012 and 2013, we met with more than 300 women of diverse backgrounds, conducting 22 focus groups in nine languages. Your Words Are Worth Something was published in 2013 based on the insights shared by these women.

In 2014 and 2015, we met with 12 additional groups of women who were under-represented in the first phase of consultation: women living with mobility limitations and other disabilities; lesbian, queer and bisexual women; trans women; and Indigenous women. We supported four groups of older women to develop law reform tools and public campaigns addressing the injustices and barriers they identified.

Acknowledgements

Our sincere thanks to all those who contributed to the development of Your Words Are Worth Something. We also thank our generous project funders, United Way Lower Mainland, the Government of Canada, and the Vancouver Foundation.