NAWL Receives Funding Extension to Continue Its Work on Violence Against Women and Women’s Economic Security

The National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) is thrilled to announce the continued support of Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE), with renewed funding through March 2027 to continue two key projects advancing responses to gender-based violence (GBV) and strengthening women’s economic security across Canada. 

This continued investment will allow NAWL and its partners to build on the significant progress achieved through the RADAR and VOICE projects by deepening collaborative advocacy and advancing survivor-centered, intersectional legal reforms. 

Through the RADAR project, launched in fall 2023, NAWL has worked alongside survivors, frontline advocates, family law practitioners, and community organizations across Canada to address persistent barriers faced by survivors of gender-based violence in the family law system. Drawing on extensive consultations and intersectional feminist analysis, NAWL has developed a comprehensive position proposing critical amendments to the Divorce Act to better protect survivors and their children during separation and divorce proceedings. NAWL’s recommendations continue to help shape conversations around survivor-centered family law reform grounded in lived realities and frontline expertise. 

In parallel, the VOICE project has enabled NAWL and its allies to advance critical advocacy to strengthen women’s economic rights and security. Since June 2024, NAWL has convened parliamentarians, lived experts, advocates, and community organizations to advance intersectional reforms addressing poverty and inequality. Together, we have advocated to strengthen the Canada Disability Benefit, improve Employment Insurance access for women following maternity leave, and support legislation addressing the harmful use of non-disclosure agreements. 

NAWL also intervened before the Supreme Court of Canada in landmark cases affecting women’s equality and economic security, including Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia and Quebec v. Kanyinda. In both decisions, the Court cited NAWL’s submissions directly. In Ahluwalia, the Court recognized a new tort of intimate partner violence, creating an important legal avenue for survivors seeking financial remedies. In Kanyinda, the Court affirmed the importance of intersectional analysis in equality rights cases and ruled that excluding asylum seekers from subsidized childcare was discriminatory. 

With support from WAGE, NAWL has also expanded The Chanterelle Alliance for Feminist Law Reform to more than 130 member organizations, strengthening collective capacity and building a more coordinated national network for feminist legal advocacy and systems change. 

NAWL is deeply grateful to Women and Gender Equality Canada for its continued support and the extension of funding through March 2027. This renewed investment will allow NAWL and its partners to continue advancing legal reforms to improve protections for survivors of gender-based violence and strengthen women’s economic security and prosperity across Canada.