8 June 2026
June 8, 2026
NAWL’s Unfinished Business report identifies urgent gaps in Canada’s family law system and offers 40 practical recommendations to better protect survivors and children.
Anishinaabe Territory / Ottawa, June 3, 2026 – The National Association of Women and the Law is thrilled to announce the launch of a new national report, Unfinished Business: Strengthening Divorce Act Protections for Survivors of Family Violence.
Developed through community consultations across Canada, Unfinished Business examines how the 2021 amendments to the Divorce Act are working in practice and identifies persistent gaps that continue to place survivors and children at risk.
While the 2021 amendments marked a significant step forward, including the explicit recognition of family violence in the Divorce Act, NAWL’s findings show that legal reform has not yet translated into consistent protection for survivors.
Throughout 2024 and 2025, NAWL consulted family lawyers, legal experts, and frontline organizations working with survivors of gender-based violence in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Yukon, and British Columbia. Participants described a family law system in which survivor safety is too often undermined by myths about family violence and harmful litigation tactics that can perpetuate post-separation abuse.
“Family law must not become another tool of coercion,” said Amanda Therrien, Senior Staff Lawyer at the National Association of Women and the Law. “When courts fail to recognize family violence, prevent litigation abuse, and centre the safety and autonomy of survivors and children, the legal system risks becoming another weapon in an abuser’s arsenal.”
Unfinished Business sets out 40 practical recommendations to make the Divorce Act more responsive to contemporary understandings of family violence, more aligned with the lived realities of survivors and children, and more resistant to manipulation by abusive litigants.
“At its core, this report is about unfinished work,” said Therrien. “The 2021 amendments marked the beginning of Divorce Act reform, not the end. This work will not be complete until the family law system delivers safe and reliable outcomes for survivors of family violence and their children.”
NAWL extends its gratitude to the volunteers, partners and participants who provided their invaluable knowledge and expertise during the consultation process, including our project partners Calgary Legal Guidance, Clinique Juripop, Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic and Yukon Status of Women Council.
This report was produced as part of NAWL’s project, Responsive Approach to Divorce Act Reform, funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada.
about NAWL
The National Association of Women and the Law is a not-for-profit feminist organization that promotes the equality rights of women through legal education, research and law reform advocacy.
