Why advocacy matters
I think sometimes when people hear the word advocacy they assume it means standing up in front of a room full of people or a street filled with demonstrators or in a government committee room to call for some kind of systemic change. Then, they assume that means they cannot do it.
While advocacy can certainly be any of those things, it is much, much more. In fact, on their own, none of the advocacy strategies above would be effective.
Every time you assist and support a woman, you are engaging in an act of advocacy.
This is the beginning of the closing remarks by Pamela Cross, Luke’s Place Legal Director, to the 2013 Annual Gathering of the Family Court Support Workers. The Family Court Support Worker initiative is a provincially funded program in which community workers help victims of domestic violence who are involved in the family court process. These workers are trained by Luke’s Place.