In the summer of 2020, NAWL was among the feminist groups that joined Women’s Shelters Canada in reissuing a call for a National Action Plan on Violence against Women & Gender Based Violence. Read the full reissue call here in English or French.…
Category: Papers and Publications
NAWL and CRIAW Proposal for Support to Equality Seeking Women’s Groups in Canada during the COVID-19 Pandemic
In order to ensure that women and girls, their families and communities who need assistance most will be included in, and benefit from federal responses to the pandemic, it is imperative that there be a robust and systematic application of an intersection feminist analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on women and girls, and of existing and potential policy and budgetary responses to it. The limited COVID-19 responses designed specifically for women, have focused entirely on the critical services that women’s shelters and sexual assault centres provide. The focus on VAW/GBV is important of course, but represents a very limited and initial response.…
Recommendations from the NAWL consultation on VAW law reform in Canada to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
The visit of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (SR VAW) presented an important opportunity for the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) to convene consultations with other national feminist and equality seeking groups to focus on the potential for feminist engagement in VAW law reform…
New SCC decision on economic rights in the family
On January 25th, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that not extending spousal support and the division of property upon relationship breakdown to common-law couples, or de facto spouses, is constitutional. The case of Quebec (Attorney General)v. A, otherwise known as “Eric” v. “Lola”, involves a heterosexual couple in Quebec who lived together for…
What We Do
The NAWL promotes women’s equality by lobbying for change to federal and provincial laws and regulations, producing publications on legal issues affecting all aspects of women’s lives, consulting with government officials on legal issues of concern to women, and more. The NAWL promotes women’s equality by… lobbying for change to federal and provincial laws and…
Same-Sex Marriage
My partner Carolyn Moffat and I (Carolyn Rowe) decided to participate in the Ontario test-case on marriage for same-sex spouses. This past spring, we drove down to Toronto’s City Hall where we applied for a marriage license. We were not granted or denied our marriage license, but were asked to wait for further clarification. The Clerk at the Marriage Registry Office is now seeking direction from the Superior Court of Justice by way of an application.…
The National Women’s Lobby Interim Report to Canadian Women (October 15-17, 2000)
Cet article est disponible uniquement en anglais. Ottawa rocked for three days in October, as the National Women’s Lobby (the national Canadian campaign that was part of the World March of Women Against Violence and Poverty) met with Members of Parliament, party leaders and federal Cabinet Ministers to discuss the […] Ottawa rocked for three…
The Defence of Provocation
Along with abolition of mandatory minimum sentences of imprisonment for murder and offences involving a firearm, NAWL recommends abolition of the defence of provocation. 71% of all women who are homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner. Men are most likely to kill when a woman leaves or attempts to end the relationship. The…
Stolen Sisters: 500 Aboriginal Women are Missing or Dead
Over the past three decades, some 500 Aboriginal women have disappeared or been murdered in Canada. A 2004 Amnesty International Report documented the systemic killing of indigenous women in Canada, particularly those who were young and impoverished. The Report concludes that Canadian authorities could and should have done more to ensure the safety of these…
Child Care
Today, 73% of women with children aged 0-6 years are in the paid workforce. If women are to have equal access to the work force, education and professional training, good, affordable child care is essential. Women shouldn’t have to assume responsibility for caring for young children at the price of their own financial independence. Why…
Women and Fiscal Policy
In 1995 the government implemented the most significant spending reductions in contemporary Canadian history. Following these reductions, many women suffered significant economic hardship. A time of economic prosperity then ensued for the federal government. However, federal spending policy in the last ten years has done nothing to help women and other vulnerable populations, on the…
Transgender and Women’s Equality Rights
How should much-needed human rights protection be extended to transgendered people? Existing grounds that have been invoked include sex, sexual orientation and disability. Some advocates have suggested that the addition of ‘gender identity’ would better protect trans people. However, the idea of self-identification being the only criteria for protection under the ground of “gender identity”…
Electoral Reform
In 2000, the Canadian Women’s March Committee’s published a document called “It’s Time for Change”. This document set out a list of demands for the Federal Government aimed at ending poverty and violence against women. However, few of these demands have been implemented. The lack of response to the Women’s March’s demands points to the…
Not in the Best Interests of Women and Children – An Analysis of Bill 422: An Act to Amend the Divorce Act
On June 16, 2009, Saskatoon-Wanuskawin Conservative Party MP Maurice Vellacott introduced Bill C-422 to the House of Commons. This Bill is the latest incarnation of a series of Bills, Motions and other legal and political maneouvrings that have attempted to eliminate the concepts of custody and access from the federal Divorce Act in favour of…
Not in the Best Interests of Women and Children: An Analysis of Bill 422, An Act to Amend the Divorce Act
NAWL Report Card on the Throne Speech and the Harper Government Agenda for the 40th Parliament
NAWL evaluates the federal government on its responsiveness to national issues: budgeting and fiscal management, jobs and well-being, participation of Canadians, Crime and Safety, Building Stronger Government Institutions, and Promoting Equality for Girls and Women. See the Report. Budgeting and Fiscal Management: C Against all evidence, the Harper government continues to insist its previous tax…
Thinking About How to Finance New Parental Benefits
Public income security programmes for individuals can take three forms. Each kind targets different kinds of beneficiaries and requires a different type of financing. Here the different kinds of programme will be defined relative to the objective of providing maternity, paternity, adoption and parental benefits for new parents and eventually for all parents with dependent…
Improving Maternity and Parental Benefits for Women outside of Québec: Proposals for Law Reform
According to NAWL’s vision, every mother should receive income replacement and material support during the first years of caring for a child. Bearing and raising children should not impoverish women, as is now the case. No single initiative is sufficient to drastically improve the situation of all mothers in Canada. Nonetheless, several areas of the…
Improving Maternity and Parental Benefits for Women Outside of Québec: Proposals for Law Reform
According to NAWL’s vision, every mother should receive income replacement and material support during the first years of caring for a child. Bearing and raising children should not impoverish women, as is now the case. No single initiative is sufficient to drastically improve the situation of all mothers in Canada. Nonetheless, several areas of the…
Report on the NAWL Pan-Canadian Workshop on Improving Maternity and Parental Benefits outside Québec
For the last three years, NAWL has been exploring ways of improving maternity and parental benefits for women living outside Québec. The NAWL Working Group has had several in-depth discussions on this issue, did extensive research on existing literature in Québec, Canada and abroad, and has consulted widely with women across Canada. On May 10,…
