The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) conducted public consultations in 2009-2010 as an early stage in a larger family law project on best practices on entry points to the family justice system.This paper summarizes what was learned about experiences and barrierrs to legal processes. The consultations indicate that prevention and early intervention, through the development and better management of entry point services, can help resolve family challenges and progems in a more effecdtive way and prevent solvable problems from becoming unsolvable.
This report summarizes research of women's experiences with disability and welfare assistance after leaving violent situations. The findings show that women have profoundly negative experiences of social assistance and income support, with inadequate resources for themselves and their children, a system that is difficult to navigate, and complex rules. Additionally, it was found that the welfare system is misused by abusive men to enhance their power and control. The authors argue for a fundamental paradigm shift in order to change women's experiences of feeling humiliated, treated with suspicion, subject to control and discipline of state and lacking options. Without such a change, women will continue to return to abusive relationships, will not be safe, and will not be equal citizens.
Co-authors: Janet Mosher (York University), Patricia Evans (Carleton University), Marget Little (Queen's University)
Community Partners: Eileen Morrow (OAITH); Jo-Anne Boulding & Nancy VanderPlaats (Ontario Social Safety Network)
This report takes a close look at the system of Welfare (Ontario Works, or OW), looking at the rules, how violations are defined, investigated and processed, and the types of sentences imposed on those found to be guilty of 'fraud'. The analysis uses interviews with lawyers and community legal workers as well as secondary materials. The report concludes that the receipt of social assistance has itself become criminalized through the category of welfare fraud where simply being on social assistance results in being seen as a penal object under moral scrutiny. Further, this criminalization is very gendered because the majority of social assistance recipients are women and single mothers.
Authors: Janet Mosher, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and Joe Hermer, Division of Social Sciences, University of Toronto at Scarborough.
This report documents the Sisters In Spirit Research Findings from 2010. These stories were told by the friends, families, and communities of the missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. The research begins with an introduction to the Native Women's Association of Canada. It then explores the issues and statistics related to violence against Aboriginal Women, including mothers and children, addiction and suicide, police and the system, and human trafficking.
This is one a series of periodic reports by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF Canada). It summarizes data and analysis on the availability and affordability of housing in Ontario. The focus is on vacancy rates, rental housing production, changes in rents, incomes and housing affordability.
The findings and recommendations from this study reflect the unique experiences of abused women in the rural community of Huron County. Results of interviews with women, service agencies, and others are reported and recommendations for changes to Ontario Works policy are presented based on the findings. Topics covered include having specific response from Ontario Works to victims of domestic violence, increasing the safety of women and children, increased benefits and supports, support to ge toff Ontario Works, recognition for the unique situation of women in rural areas, among others.
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This report shares findings of research into the impact of mandatory charging policies through focus groups with Crown Attorneys and interviews with women charged with domestic violence. The key findings were that: women arrested were living with abusive men; gender neutrality of mandatory charge policies decontextualizes abused women's use of force; there are serious socio-economic and emotional consequences of criminalizing women's self-protective use of force for both themselves and their children; and, criminalizing women's responses to male violence increases their vulnerability to further abuse.
This guide is for women, including trans women, who are liviing with HIV and who experience or are at risk of experiencing violence from their intimate partner. It provides information about different laws that may apply to women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), inlcuding information about how the criminal law affects intimate relationships for people living with HIV. This guide focuses on Ontario-based laws, but some sections are applicable throughout Canada.
Published by HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic (HALCO), AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, and METRAC.