31 Things British Columbia Can Do Right Now to End Violence Against Women
4. Enhance access to justice for women – invest in family, immigration and poverty law legal aid services
Over the past decade, legal aid in BC has been drastically reduced, compromising access to justice and the rule of law. Family law services have been particularly restricted, with dire consequences for many women. Without publicly funded legal advice and representation, women are compromising their rights in order to avoid costly trials or having to self-represent against an abusive, and possibly represented, former partner. If BC is serious about tackling violence against women, women must have access to the supports they need, which requires a fully funded legal aid system.
Women in British Columbia have waited too long already. That is why we are offering 31 things that BC’s new Provincial Office of Domestic Violence (PODV) can push for right now to increase safety for women and to bring us closer than we have ever been to ending violence against women once and for all. We are calling for 31 social, economic and legal changes, none of which are unachievable in this province. Some would require very little financial investment, and each of them will save resources in the long term given the high costs of violence against women.
For more information:
1. Call violence against women what it is
2. Audit for compliance with BC’s Violence Against Women in Relationship policy
3. Address the immediate financial and housing needs of women fleeing violence
5. Make addressing women’s inequality a core learning objective for all BC students
6. Add sexual violence by police to the mandate of the Independent Investigations Office
7. Address the feminization of poverty with a provincial anti-poverty plan
8. Push to add gender and sex to the hate crime provisions of Canada’sCriminal Code
9. Bring back regional coordination committees for women’s safety
10. Join the call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women
11. Do not let immigration status stand in the way of women’s safety
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Great! It is high time law did something powerful enough to put an end to the atrocities against women. This is a great initiative. Proud of you guys!