Why can’t everyone just get along?

Written by Haley Hrymak and Kim Hawkins

Funded by the Status of Women Canada, now Women and Gender Equality Canada, this research sought to understand how the legal system responds to family violence, with a focus on the family court system since the enactment of the Family Law Act. The research for this project was conducted between was conducted between June 2017 and May 2020.

This research found that despite the well-documented prevalence of family violence directed at women. many legal system professionals still tend to view cases involving family violence as outliers or exceptions to the norm.

“Across the province we heard story after story about a legal system that is not designed to recognize the pervasiveness of family violence, nor to meaningfully assess and respond to the risks of future violence, which is “particularly high following parental separation.”

See City News coverage on the report here.

Photography by Melody Charlie

Graphic Report design by Nadene Rehnby