Building Inclusive and Accessible Family Justice: Practical Approaches to Innovate Family Law Systems in BC’s Rural and Remote Communities
Authors: Vicky Law and Stephanie Melnyk
Funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada / Femmes et Égalité des genres Canada, this project was conducted between May and November 2022.
The report identifies opportunities to improve family law for women and gender diverse people located outside of the Lower Mainland, and calls for the government, the courts, Legal Aid BC, the Law Society of BC, lawyers, and support workers to collaborate to close gaps in access to justice.
Illustration created by Drawing Change
Building Inclusive and Accessible Family Justice takes a comprehensive look at the effects of the failing justice system on the lives of women and gender diverse people and offers nine recommendations for changes, including:
Furthering collaboration between government, the Law Society of BC, Legal Aid BC, and the BC Court system.
Enhance collaboration between lawyers and support workers.
Establish one centralized, online platform for filing court documents, and accessing court records
Provide court users with a choice on the method of court appearance.
See all recommendations here.
Graphic designed by Hands on Publications
For the report, Rise facilitated 14 in-person focus group sessions involving the participation of 90 support workers representing 40 community organizations. Through these sessions, we heard from support workers about the challenges their clients were facing. We specifically engaged with support workers because of their extensive interactions with clients, which allowed them to offer valuable insights into family law trends in their geographic area. These support workers identified systemic barriers faced by their clients, which in turn informed our recommendations for a more accessible family law system.
Help amplify this report by asking your newly elected MLA to read it and implement its recommendations. You can find instructions and, a template, here.
We are incredibly grateful to the 90 participants representing 40 BC organizations who joined our focus groups in 2022. In particular, we recognize the thoughtful contributions of Shannon Aldinger, Jenna Bernardo, Sarah Callander, Jackie Chandler, Karen Clayton, David Desautels, Tara Grinyer, Robyn Harris, Lois Hobley, Jeannette Ives, Julie James, Erin Koskimaki, Steve Oka, Sarah Peacock, Shana Reeder, Char Schafer, Kathy Schneider, Angie Washington, and seven support workers who preferred not to be named.