women’s rights – Page 2

Free webinar on legal issues facing older women survivors of violence in British Columbia

May 11, 2016 Audrey Jun Events, The broader context

Roads to Safety partial cover — “Roads to Safety” will launch on May 24th to coincide with Part 1 of the webinar, and all participants will receive the link to download the PDF. It will also be available via Clicklaw.

By West Coast LEAF

Elder abuse and violence against women aren’t separate issues, and we believe that they must not be separate conversations. That’s why West Coast LEAF (Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund) and the Canadian Centre for Elder Law are offering a free webinar for front-line service providers to explore the legal challenges that are most likely to impact older women in BC who have experienced violence.

If you support or advocate for older women in BC, we invite you to join our free two-part webinar on Tuesday May 24th and Tuesday May 31st from noon to 1 pm Pacific Time. We will introduce our new 90-page plain language legal handbook for older women fleeing violence, called Roads to Safety, and offer an overview of some of the legal topics it covers:

TUESDAY MAY 24th – PART 1

• Decision-making rights and capacity, including for women with dementia and mental health diagnoses
• Substitute decision-makers and the abuse of decision-making authority
• Protection orders and peace bonds
• Options to assist older women who are facing abuse and cannot take action to protect themselves

TUESDAY MAY 31st – PART 2

• Public pensions
• Basics of property division after separation or divorce, including pension division
• Steps to protect assets in cases of financial abuse

Each session will be framed by discussion of the insights that 450 older women shared with us in nine different languages as part of the Older Women’s Dialogue Project. Throughout the webinar, we’ll maintain a focus on the gendered dynamics of violence against older adults. We aim to prompt reflection about how legal challenges in the aftermath of abuse can vary based not only on age and gender, but also based on ability, citizenship status, Indigenous identity, language, access to financial resources, and more.

We hope you will come away with greater confidence in talking to older women in BC about their legal rights and options in the context of abuse.

This webinar is part of the Older Women’s Legal Education Project, a collaboration between West Coast LEAF and the Canadian Centre for Elder Law. Funding has been generously provided by the BC Council to Reduce Elder Abuse.
Space in the webinar is limited to 100 people. Please register now at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1678353196952104195

Questions? We would love to hear from you! Please contact Alana Prochuk at education@westcoastleaf.org or 604-684-8772 extension 117.

Stay informed with West Coast LEAF:

West Coast LEAF Report says BC can do better on Women’s Rights

November 4, 2015 Audrey Jun Community posts

This post introduces a newly added resource in the Reform & Research section of Clicklaw, the public window to legal reform and innovations in BC.

By Kendra Milne
Director of Law Reform, West Coast LEAF

After an election campaign in which women’s equality became a rhetorical tool in a divisive attempt to instill fear and xenophobia in voters and control women’s religious choices, Canada has opted for a more hopeful federal government. But where does that leave women in BC?

We know the primary causes of women’s inequality: disproportionate financial insecurity due to unpaid caregiving and wage inequity, and violence, which undermines a woman’s ability to exercise her most basic rights. These are some of the fundamental drivers of women’s well-being and security, in addition to the ability to access assistance to enforce their legal rights. Many of the solutions to these issues fall totally or partially under the responsibility of provincial governments.

With that in mind, West Coast LEAF has released its seventh annual report card on women’s rights in BC. The report card assesses how well the BC government is complying with the obligations set out in the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW, often described as an international bill of rights for women, was ratified by Canada in 1981. The focus of the report card is the provincial government, but it provides a useful framework to measure the potential impact of some of the platform promises of Canada’s new federal government. Below are some of the Liberal Party of Canada’s (LPC) campaign promises in areas particularly relevant to women’s equality and some key findings about the BC provincial government’s role and progress in those areas from this year’s CEDAW report card.

Tag: women’s rights