Sally, Karen, Mariam, Nav, Tina and Hanna
Announcing the Justice Centre at BWSS
Founded in 1979, Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) takes action to end violence against women and girls through community-based interventions, support services, legal and systemic advocacy, education and training, violence prevention and research and policy.
BWSS has provided a community-based legal advocacy program in Metro Vancouver called the Legal Services and Advocacy Program (LSAP), providing legal services and advocacy for women survivors of violence.
The program provides legal supports for women and femmes who have experienced intimate partner, domestic and sexualized violence while helping survivors who are facing issues with family law, immigration, child welfare, sexual assault and/or the criminal justice system.
For nearly 45 years, through the supports given by the LSAP, women survivors of violence in British Columbia (B.C.) have been able to leave their abusive relationship, receive more fair custody and access orders that increase the safety for the children, and have been able to have a voice in mediation proceedings and very importantly have access to legal representation in their legal cases.
Our Legal Services and Advocacy Program was created many years ago out of a need to Support Women Seeking Justice while the Province of B.C. failed to do so.
The family law system in British Columbia is complicated and expensive, and women have been directly affected by the progressive cuts to Legal Aid since 2002.
“It would have been easier to stay with the abuser and not deal with the courts and the painful separation.”
Through decades of support to thousands of women, BWSS has seen firsthand how the prejudicial legal system negatively impacts the lives of women survivors of violence.
It cannot be underscored enough how important access to justice and the Legal Services and Advocacy Program have been for women’s long-term safety and freedom from violence.
Effective April 03, 2023, LSAP at BWSS adopts the name the Justice Centre at BWSS.
The Justice Centre (JC) at BWSS is undergoing an expansion and rebranding to meet the growing demand for legal support of women facing systemic barriers and legal obstacles arising from the intersection of violence against women and the law.
This urgent need for expanded services is driven by the fact that the Canadian Legal System is riddled with systemic issues perpetuated by the government and patriarchy, creating barriers that often deny survivors access to legal support, thereby denying women’s long-term safety and freedom from violence.
Survivors often face more obstacles than opportunities in the Legal System, compounded by continual government cuts to funding for support services.
The Justice Centre’s enhanced legal supports and education play a critical role in empowering survivors, helping them navigate complex legal systems and bridging a gap in services that is often insurmountable without support.
The Justice Centre at BWSS is more than access to justice—the presence of a legal advocate can help toward the opportunity to access a just result for survivors who are facing family law, immigration, child welfare, sexual assault and/or criminal legal systems.
The Justice Centre at BWSS is a community- based legal clinic, providing trauma and violence informed, multilingual, and culturally responsive legal services to diverse women who have experienced violence in BC.
It is a centre for survivors, created in response to the urgent need to address systemic barriers that prevent women from accessing legal services and obtaining fair and just outcomes.
Its expansion and rebranding have been carefully designed to address the increasing needs of the community and will serve as a powerful tool in empowering survivors of violence and promoting justice for women survivors.
By offering a comprehensive range of legal services, including support in navigating the complex legal system, the Justice Centre at BWSS ensures that the voices of survivors are heard, and their rights protected.
Hanna Ogawa, Nav Bhuller (our Legal Volunteers) Tina Ye (Legal Advocate) and Karen Bation (Manager, Justice Centre)
With a focus on delivering just results, the Justice Centre fills a critical gap in services for women who face systemic barriers in accessing legal support and achieving justice on their own.
The Justice Centre is unique and sole legal centre of its kind in Western Canada, providing comprehensive legal services to women survivors of violence.
The value of the Justice Centre is immeasurable; it provides a safe and supportive space for women to receive the legal guidance and representation they need and deserve as a basic constitutional right which is often denied due to systemic barriers created by the Canadian government and reinforced by patriarchal values of the legal system itself that prevent survivors from having equitable access to it.
By offering a comprehensive range of legal services, including support in navigating the complex legal system, the Justice Centre at BWSS ensures that the voices of survivors are heard, and their rights protected.