Posts Tagged ‘domestic violence’
Supporting women to access family law supports during COVID-19
Luke’s Place offers a variety of supports to women and their advocates in Ontario during the pandemic For women If you are in Durham Region (Ajax, Brock, Clarington, Oshawa, Pickering, Scugog, Uxbridge and Whitby) Contact us at 905-728-0978 x 221 Monday to Friday 9 am to noon and 1 to 4:30 pm for: Individual consultations…
Read moreCOVID-19, gender-based violence & family law toolkit for service providers
It is no surprise to those who work with women fleeing abuse that many of their partners and former partners are using the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health protocols put in place to contain the spread of the virus as an excuse to engage in a wide range of abusive, bullying, harassing and manipulative…
Read moreCOVID-19 crisis complicates intimate partner violence issues, lawyers say
Ian Burns interviewed Luke’s Place on the impact of COVID-19 on women living with violence. The article appears on TheLawyersDaily.ca. “Let’s say hypothetically I was in an abusive relationship, but I had a job, or my partner worked outside the home and our kids were at school. There would at least be some time during…
Read moreCanada’s domestic violence problem was already critical. COVID-19 is making it worse
Journalist Sarah Boesveld interviewed Luke’s Place on the impact of COVID-19 on women living with violence. The article appears on Chatelaine.com. In late March, a few weeks after COVID-19 shuttered all schools and non-essential businesses, Pamela Cross and her team heard from a woman in dire need of help. Cross is the legal director of…
Read moreSocial distancing? Safety tips for women living with an abusive partner
In an emergency, dial 911 for immediate assistance. Connect with the women’s shelter in your community (you can find a list at ShelterSafe.ca). Even if you don’t stay at the shelter, staff can provide outreach services to support you and can help you make an emergency escape plan as well as a safety plan. Check…
Read moreWomen fleeing abuse affected by COVID-19
The connection between COVID-19 and the safety of women living in or attempting to flee abusive relationships may not be immediately obvious, but those of us practising family law, in particular, need to be aware of it. Public policy decisions that close schools, community centres, libraries, arenas and swimming pools; encourage people to work remotely…
Read moreIncreasing access to justice through lawyer education
As I mentioned in my remarks when I received the Guthrie Award recently, there has been little attention paid to ensuring that lawyers – particularly family law lawyers – are educated about the issue of family violence. This creates a significant barrier to access to justice for families where violence has been a factor. Those…
Read moreViolence screening tools for family law professionals
Woman abuse is a common issue in family court cases, yet few legal professionals screen for it. As The Globe and Mail reports: About 67 per cent of domestic homicides in Ontario involved couples who had separated or were about to separate, according to data from the province’s chief coroner spanning from 2003 to 2016….…
Read moreEnough mourning: We need action!
Fifteen women, their mothers and their children have been killed in Ontario by intimate partners or family members since January 2018. This is more than the yearly average. Holly Hamilton, 29, Hamilton Baljit Thandi, 32, Brampton Avtar Kaur, 60, Brampton Elaine Bellevue, 61, Mississauga Jan Singh, 70, Oakville Barbara Kovic, 76, Etobicoke Raya Turunen, 88,…
Read moreWhy are women sometimes charged with assaulting their partner when they are just trying to protect themselves or their kids?
Dual charging or counter charging of women is one of the direct results of the mandatory charging policy. This is a serious, if unintended, consequence, and rates of dual/counter charging remain high in Ontario. Both women and their children feel the consequences of dual/counter charging. The abuser gains even more power and control because he…
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