Posts Tagged ‘advocacy’
World Day of Social Justice
Today, February 20, 2026, we observe World Day of Social Justice, an international day dedicated to advancing equity, human rights, and systemic transformation. Social justice means ensuring that everyone has access to safety, dignity, and opportunity. We recognize this means that intimate partner violence (IPV) is not treated as a private matter, but as a serious social justice crisis that impacts individuals, families, and communities. …
Read moreCriminalization of coercive control may be a reality in Canada
In December 2025, the federal government introduced Bill C-16: Protecting Victims Act, which proposes significant changes to various laws, including the Criminal Code. The stated purpose of this Bill is “to better protect survivors of gender-based violence, sexual violence and intimate partner violence and keep kids safe from predators.” A key component of Bill C-16 is the criminalization of coercive control. What is coercive control? …
Read moreStatement from Luke’s Place on Sudine Riley
We are extremely appalled by the very serious reports of assault on a racialized female lawyer at the Oshawa courthouse earlier this week. As an organization that works regularly at this courthouse, we are incredibly concerned with the systemic racism and violence impacting our community and communities across Ontario. Sudine Riley was catching up on her legal work at the courthouse when she was assaulted by police officers…
Read moreMarking 10 years since the CKW Murders: Remembering, Reflecting, and Continuing the Work
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the murders of Nathalie Warmerdam, Anastasia Kuzyk, and Carol Culleton, three women killed in one day by the same man in what became one of Ontario’s most horrific cases of intimate partner violence (IPV). While a decade has passed, the push for meaningful change in how we prevent and…
Read moreVoices of Change: Our current priorities
Our team advocates for women and their children leaving violence every single day. It is central to our work that we: For our frontline staff, this often involves direct advocacy within specific systems. Some examples of this include helping a woman getting a certificate with Legal Aid Ontario (LAO), supporting a woman to effectively communicate…
Read moreOur updated advocacy toolkit is available!
As we approach the second anniversary of the CKW inquest and the release of its jury recommendations, please join us in calling for action! We’re delighted to share an updated version of our advocacy toolkit to help you get involved. Background On the morning of September 22, 2015, in rural Renfrew County, Carol Culleton, Anastasia…
Read moreCulleton, Kuzyk & Warmerdam (CKW) Inquest advocacy toolkit
Download the newest version of the toolkit As of today, 95 municipalities in Ontario have declared intimate partner violence to be an epidemic, in support of the first of the jury’s 86 recommendations. These declarations are largely the result of hard work by VAW organizations in each community – congratulations! For a complete list of…
Read moreCommunity safety includes safety from gender-based violence
Community safety and well-being plans (CSWPs) came into being as the result of the Safer Ontario Act, passed by the provincial government in 2018. It requires municipalities to create these CSWP plans, but offers little in the way of detail about what the plans need to include. Recommendation #10 from the CKW inquest calls for…
Read morePam Cross featured in Pixel Project’s Inspirational Interview Series
Luke’s Place Pamela Cross was selected as the Pixel Project’s Inspirational Interview for October 2023. The Pixel Project is a completely virtual, volunteer-led global non-profit organisation whose mission is to raise awareness, funds and volunteer power for the cause to end violence against women using the power of the internet, social media, new technologies and…
Read moreLuke’s Place announces new advocacy and legal directors
We are thrilled to announce that Emily Murray who has been the Luke’s Place Legal Services Director since April 2022, is stepping into the position of Legal Director at Luke’s Place as of January 5, 2023. Previously, Emily worked as a family law lawyer and as a panel lawyer for the Office of the Children’s…
Read more