A1. An Introduction to Violence Against Women
A2.

Setting a Foundational Context

A3. Family Law and Violence Against Women
A4. Criminal Law and Violence Against Women
A5. Ethics, Professionalism and Practice Considerations

 

Appendix A1: An Introduction to Violence against Women

1. Content description

This unit focuses on the social issue of individually perpetrated violence against women – public, private, sexual, physical, psychological. Particular attention will be paid to post-separation violence and the intersection between violence against women and the law. The legal response will be situated as one component of a holistic response to violence against women.

Readings are largely drawn from the sociology/psychology realm.

Students who successfully complete this unit will have increased knowledge about the issue of violence against women and its relationship with the law.

 

2. Possible Teaching Tools

Guest speakers

  • Survivor of violence
  • Shelter worker
  • Court support worker
  • Crown
  • Defence Counsel

Films

  • Life with Billy
  • Sleeping with the Enemy
  • The Burning Bed
  • Looking for Angelina
  • Polytechnique

 

3. Definitions of violence against women

Proposed definition

“The term “violence against women” means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. Accordingly, violence against women encompasses but it not limited to the following:

a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence, violence related to exploitation and trafficking of women and children.

b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution.

c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs.

Acts of violence against women also include forced sterilization and forced abortion, coercive/forced use of contraceptives, female infanticide and prenatal sex selection.” (United Nations, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 1973)

 

A. SEXUAL VIOLENCE

Key themes

  • Under-reporting of sexual violence
  • Why women are not believed
  • Stranger rape vs rape by men women know
  • Rape in spousal relationships
  • Criminal response to rape in Canada
  • Rape vs sexual assault

Suggested readings

Doe, Jane. The Story of Jane Doe. Random House Canada, 2003: 9-16.

Kingsolver, Barbara. “Letter to my Mother.” Small Wonder: Essays. New York: HarperCollins, 2002: 160-175.

MacFarlane, Bruce A. “Historical Development of the Offence of Rape.” Association, Canadian Bar. 100 Years of the Criminal Code in Canada: Essays commemorating the centenary of the Canadian Criminal Code. 1993: 66.

Randall, Melanie. “Sexual Assault in Spousal Relationships: ‘Continuous Consent’ and the Law.” Manitoba Law Journal 23 (2008): 141-181.

Razack, Sherene. “Gendered Violence and Spatialized Justice.” Canadian Journal of Law and Society 15.2 (2000): 91-120.

Sheehy, Elizabeth, ed. Sexual Assault Law, Practice & Activism in a Post-Jane Doe Era. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2012.

Vandervort, Lucinda. “Honest Beliefs, Credible Lies and Culpable Awareness.” Osgoode Hall Law Journal 42 (2004): 625-660.

 

B. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

1. Introduction

Key themes

  • Societal reaction to domestic violence
  • Legal response/non-response to violence within intimate relationships
  • Extent of the problem

Suggested readings

Chewter, Cynthia L. “Violence against Women and Children: Some Legal Issues.” Canadian Journal of Family Law 20.1 (2003): 99-178.

DeKeseredy, Walter S. “Current Controversies on Defining Nonlethal Violence Against Women in Intimate Heterosexual Relationships: Empirical Implications.” Violence Against Women 6.7 (2000): 728-746.

Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children. Through the Looking Glass: The Experiences of Unrepresented Abused Women in Family Court. 2008: 6-15.

Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario. “Domestic Violence Death Review Committe Eighth Annual Report.” 2010.

Vallee, Brian. The War on Women. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2007: 27-30, 31-44.

 

2. Dynamics, forms and tactics of woman abuse

Key themes

  • Overall dynamic of power, control and coercion
  • Exploration of forms and tactics: physical, sexual, psychological, social, religious, legal, etc.

Suggested readings

Jacobsen, Neil and John Gottmann. When Men Batter Women. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998: 43-57.

Johnson, Michael P. A Typology of Domestic Violence: Intimate Terrorism, Violent Resistance and Situational Couple Violence. Northeastern University Press, 2008.

Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children. “Forms and Tactics of Abuse.” After She Leaves. 2010.

Power and Control Wheel[41]

Stark, Evan. Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life. Oxford University Press, 2007: 1-17, 26-31, 31-36, 51-60, 291-303; case stories at 73, 96, 101.

 

3. A statistical overview

Key themes

  • Current Canadian statistics
  • Why social science research may not paint an accurate picture

Suggested readings

DeKeseredy, Walter S. “Tactics of the Antifeminist Backlash against Canadian National Woman Abuse Surveys.” Violence Against Women 5.11 (1999): 1258.

Johnson, Holly. “Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends.” Statistics Canada Report. 2006.

Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario. “Domestic Violence Death Review Committe Eighth Annual Report.” 2010.

Statistics Canada. “Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile.” Catalogue No. 85-224-X. January 2011.

 

4. Responding to the abuser

Key themes

  • Who is an abuser?
  • Envisioning appropriate responses to/roles for abusers

Suggested readings

Campbell, Marcie et. al. “Engaging Abusive Men in Seeking Community Intervention: A Critical Research & Practice Priority.” Journal of Family Violence 25 (2010): 413-422.

Stark, Evan. Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life. Oxford University Press, 2007: 66-73.

 

5. Post-separation violence

Key themes

  • Reality of post-separation violence
  • Differences between violence in and after relationships
  • Lack of systemic understanding of post-separation violence
  • Impact of post-separation violence on women’s participation in legal proceedings

Suggested readings

Humphries, C. and R.K. Thiara. “Neither Justice nor Protection: Women’s Experiences of Post-Separation Violence.” Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 25 (2003): 195.

 

6. Why women stay or return

Key themes

  • Challenges for women who think about leaving
  • Why staying is sometimes a safer choice
  • How societal and systemic responses could make it easier for women to leave

Suggested readings

Herman, Judith. Trauma and Recovery. Basic Books, 1992: in particular, chapter 4, “Captivity”, at page 74.

Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children. “Why Women Stay or Return.” After She Leaves. 2010.

Stark, Evan. Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life. Oxford University Press, 2007: 115-117.

 

C. THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THE LAW

Key themes

  • Appropriateness of the legal responses to violence against women
  • Is the law part of the problem?
  • Can the legal response make the violence worse?
  • Women’s reactions to their interactions with the legal system(s)
  • Alternative dispute resolution
  • Responses by other systems

Suggested readings

Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic. “Justice Done: Crafting Opportunity from Adversity.” 2011.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. “I Built my House of Hope: Best Practices to Safely House Abused and Homeless Women.” 2009.

Lakemann, Lee. Obsession with Intent: Violence Against Women. Montreal: Black Rose Books, 2005.

Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children. Through the Looking Glass: The Experiences of Unrepresented Abused Women in Family Court. 2008.

McGillvray, Anne and Brenda Comasty. Black Eyes all of the Time: Intimate Violence, Aboriginal Women and the Justice System. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.

Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses. “Choose to Change This: Women and Children More at Risk in Province.” 2004.

Temkin, Jennifer and Barbara Krate. Sexual Assault and the Justice Gap: A Question of Attitude. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2008.

Ursel, Jane, Leslie M. Tutty and Janice Lemaistre. What’s Law Got to do with It? The Law, Specialzied Courts and Domestic Violence in Canada. Toronto: Cormorant Books Inc., 2008: 1-20.

YWCA Canada. “Life Beyond Shelter: Toward Coordinated Public Policies for Women’s Safety and Violence Prevention.” 2009.

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Appendix A2: Setting a Foundational Context

1. Content description

This unit examines the foundational context underlying violence against women: its gendered reality, its intersections with race, class, age, ability and sexual orientation and the importance of bringing an intersectional analysis and approach to understanding it, particularly within the legal context.

2. Possible Teaching Tools

Guest speakers

  • Community worker
  • Panel discussion with speakers with different perspectives

Hypotheticals

3. The importance of an intersectional analysis

Key themes

  • The need for an inclusive, intersectional approach
  • Role of gender
  • Societal context of women’s inequality

Suggested readings

DeKeseredy, Walter and Molly Dragiewicz. “Shifting Public Policy Direction: Gender-Focused Versus Bi-Directional Intimate Partner Violence.” March 2009.

Dragiewicz, Molly. Equality with a Vengeance: Men’s Rights Groups, Battered Women and Antifeminist Backlash. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2011: 8-25.

Ontario Women’s Directorate. “Transforming our Communities: Report from the Domestic Violence Advisory Council.” 2009: 21-24. Online: http://www.women.gov.on.ca/owd_new/english/resources/publications/dvac/dvac_report.shtml.

Razak, Sherene. Looking White People in the Eye: Gender, Race, and Culture in Courtrooms and Classrooms. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998: 140-147.

Sinclair, Deborah. “Overcoming the Backlash: Telling the Truth about Power, Privilege and Oppression: Exploring Gender-based Analysis in the Context of Violence Against Women.” 2003.

 

4. Violence against women in marginalized communities

Key themes

  • Differentiated societal and systemic response to violence against women because of race, culture, class, ability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity
  • Situating violence against women in marginalized communities appropriately
  • Additional challenges and barriers for women from marginalized communities
  • Different dynamics of abuse in marginalized communities

Suggested readings

Alaggia, Ramona and Sarah Maiter. “Domestic violence and child abuse: Issues for immigrant and refugee families,” Cruel but not unusual: violence in Canadian families. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2006: 99-110.

Amnesty International. “Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada.” Online: http://www.amnesty.ca/stolensisters/amr2000304.pdf.

Brownridge, Douglas A. “Cultural Variation in Male Partner Violence Against Women: A Comparison of Quebec with the Rest of Canada.” Violence Against Women 8.87 (2002).

Canadian Women’s Foundation: A review of issues related to violence against women with disabilities, Aboriginal women and women with mental health and substance abuse issues. Online: http://www.canadianwomen.org.

Hooks, Bell. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Centre. South End Press, 1984: 1-15.

McDonald, Lynn, April Collins and Julie Dergal.“The abuse and neglect of older adults in Canada.” Cruel but not unusual: violence in Canadian families. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2006: 426-432.

Sobsey, Richard and Sonia A. Sobon. “Violence, protection and empowerment in the lives of children and adults with disabilities.” Cruel but not unusual: violence in Canadian families. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2006: 49-58 and 63-66.

Sokoloff, Natalie J., ed. Domestic Violence at the Margins: Readings on Race, Class, Gender and Culture. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2010: 1-13, 416-434.

 

5. Violence against women and culture

Key themes

  • The role of cultural relativism
  • When minority and dominant cultural norms appear to clash
  • Finding a non-mainstream cultural approach to violence against women

Suggested readings

Baskin, Cyndy. “Systemic oppression, violence, and healing in Aboriginal families and communities.” Cruel but not unusual: violence in Canadian families. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2006: 15-27.

Gillis, J. Roy and Shaindl Diamond. “Same-sex partner abuse: Challenges to the existing paradigms of intimate violence theory.” Cruel but not unusual: violence in Canadian families. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2006: 127-144.

Grewel, Zareena. “Death by Culture? How Not to Talk about Islam and Domestic Violence.” A report written for the Institute for Social Policy Understanding. 2009. Online: http://www.ispu.org.

Motoi, Ina. “Is this violence? Recognizing, defining and intervening in family violence in a francophone minority context.” Cruel but not unusual: violence in Canadian families. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2006: 79-87.

Razack, Sherene H. “The Muslims are Coming: The Sharia Debate in Canada.” Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims from Western Law and Politics. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008: 145-172.

Williams, Patricia. The Alchemy of Race and Class. Harvard University Press, 1991: 216-236.

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Appendix A3: Family Law and Violence against Women

1. Content Description

This module focuses on critical issues in family law that have an immediate and obvious connection to violence against women:

  • custody and access
  • child protection
  • impact of violence against women on family court proceedings, and
  • the relationship between family and criminal court in cases involving violence against women.

It can be expanded to cover other family law issues which have a less direct connection to violence against women: child and spousal support and property division, in particular.

 

2. Possible Teaching Tools

Guest Speakers

  • Family lawyer
  • Children’s lawyer
  • Collaborative lawyer
  • Family mediator

Role Playing

  • Interview [to identify whether client has/is suffering domestic violence]
  • Preparing a victim of domestic violence for court

 

A. SETTING THE STATUTORY FRAMEWORK

Key themes

  • the relevant laws
  • possible new legislative approaches

Relevant statutes

Divorce Act: in particular section 16(10): the maximum contact rule.

Children’s Law Reform Act: in particular section 24(2): the best interests of the child test and section 35: restraining orders.

Family Law Act: in particular section 24 dealing with exclusive possession of the matrimonial home and section 46 dealing with restraining orders.

Child and Family Services Act

Arbitration Act: in particular section 1, definitions of family law arbitration.

Suggested readings

Cohen, Jonathan and Nikki Gershbain. “For the Sake of the Fathers? Child Custody Reform and the Perils of Maximum Contact.” Candian Family Law Quarterly 19 (2001): 121.

National Association of Women and the Law. “Response to Bill C-22: An Act to Amend the Divorce Act.” 2003.

Neilson, Linda. “Putting Revisions to the Divorce Act Through a Family Violence Filter: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” Canadian Journal of Family Law 20.1 (2003): 11-56.

 

B. CUSTODY AND ACCESS

Key themes

  • Role of violence against women in custody and access determinations
  • The best interests of the child test
  • Challenges with joint custody
  • Access with an abuser
  • Alienation of children

Suggested readings

Aster, Hilary. “The Weight of Silence: Talking about Violence in Family Mediation.” Public and Private: Feminist Legal Debates. Ed. Margaret Thornton. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1995: 174.

Bala, N., S. Hunt and C. McCarney. “Parental Alienation: Canadian Court Cases 1989-2008.” Family Court Review 48 (2010): 162-177.

Birnbaum, R. and S. Chipeur. “Supervised visitation in custody and access disputes: Finding legal solutions for complex family problems.” Canadian Family Law Quarterly 29 (2010): 79-94.

Harrison, C. “Implacably hostile or appropriately protective? Women managing child contact in the context of domestic violence.” Violence Against Women 14.4 (2008): 381-405.

Jaffe, Peter G., Janet R. Johnston, Claire V. Crooks and Nicholas Bala. “Custody Disputes Involving Allegations of Domestic Violence: Towards a Differentiated Approach to Parenting Plans.” Family Court Review 46.3 (July 2008): 500-522.

Jaffe, Peter G., Claire V. Crooks and Nicholas Bala. “Seeking a Road Less Travelled: Reconsidering the Journeys Taken by Victims of Domestic Violence in Family Court.” Journal of Child Custody 6.3 (2009): 169-188.

Jaffe, Peter G., Nancy K.D. Lemon and Samantha E. Poisson. Child Custody and Domestic Violence. California: Sage Publishing, 2002: 16-33.

Johnston, Janet R. “Rethinking Parental Alienation and Redesigning Parent-Child Access Services for Children Who Resist or Refuse Visitation.” 2001. Online: http://www.familienhandbuch.de/cms/Trennung_Johnston-PAS.pdf

Mahoney, Martha R. “Legal Images of Battered Women: Redefining the Issue of Separation.” Michigan Law Review 90.1 (October 1991): 1-94.

Neilson, Linda. “Assessing Mutual Partner-Abuse Claims in Child Custody and Access Cases.” Family Court Review 42.3 (2004): 411-438.

Ursel, Jane, Leslie M. Tutty and Janice Lemaistre. What’s Law Got to Do with It? The Law, Specialized Courts and Domestic Violence in Canada. Toronto: Cormorant Books Inc., 2008: 254-271.

A sampling of case law

Bath v Bath (2010) OJ No 1668, 2010 ONSC 1630.

May-Iannizzi v Iannizzi (2010) CarswellOnt 5353. 2010 ONCA 519.

LeBlanc v Khallaf (2010), 2010 NSSC 219, 2010 CarswellNS 376.

L. (N.D.) v L. (M.S.) (2010), 2010 NSSC 68, 2010 CarswellNS 107.

Lombardi v Mehnert (2008) CarswellOnt 2075 (Ont CJ).

 

C. CHILD PROTECTION

Key themes

  • The relationship between child protection and woman abuse
  • Legal responses that protect children and their mothers
  • Impact of child protection on children from racialized and Aboriginal communities

Suggested readings

Allagia, Ramona, Angelique Jenney, Josephine Mazzuca and Melissa Redmond.“In Whose Best Interest? A Canadian Case Study of the Impact of Child Welfare Policies in Cases of Domestic Violence.” Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 7.4 (2007): 275-290.

Black, Tara et al. “The Canadian Child Welfare System Response to Exposure to Domestic Violence.” Child Abuse and Neglect 32 (2008): 393-404.

Lavergne, Chantal et al. “Domestic Violence: Protecting Children by Involving Fathers and Helping Mothers.” Centre of Excellence for Child Welfare Information Sheet #6E, 2003.

Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses. “In the Best Interests of Children and Mothers: A Proposed Child Welfare Response to Violence Against Women.” 2003.

Ontario Women’s Directorate. “Transforming our Communities: Report from the Domestic Violence Advisory Council.” 2009: 52-63.

Shlonsky, Aron and C. Friend. “Child Maltreatment and Domestic Violence: Current State of Knowledge and Emerging Strategies for Policy and Practice.” Evidence-Based Practice Journal 7.4 (2007): 249-252.

Swift, Karen J. Manufacturing “Bad” Mothers: A Critical Perspective on Child Neglect. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995.

Trocme, Nico, Della Knoke, Cindy Blackstock. “Pathways to the Overrepresentation of Aboriginal Children in Canada’s Child Welfare System.” Social Services Review 78.4 (2004): 1-26.

 

D. IMPACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ON FAMILY COURT PROCEEDINGS

Key themes

  • Impact on women as family court litigants
  • The role of post-separation violence
  • Legal bullying
  • Role of alternative dispute resolution, especially mediation
  • Safety
  • Need for services and supports

Suggested readings

Bala, N., R. Birnbaum and D. Martinson. “One Judge for One Family: Differentiated case management for families in continuing conflict.” Canadian Journal of Family Law 26.2 (2010): 395.

Cross, Pamela. “Legal Bullying: Just Another Name for Stalking.” Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children. Needs Assessment and Gap Analysis for Abused Women Unrepresented in the Family Law System: Final Report and Recommendations. 2008.

Hardesty, Jennifer. “Separation Assault in the Context of Postdivorce Parenting: An Integrative Review of the Literature.” Violence Against Women 8.5 (2002).

Holtzworth-Munroe, Amy, Connie J.A. Beck and Amy G. Applegate. “The Mediator’s Assessment of Safety Issues and Concerns (MASIC): A Screening Interview for Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse Available in the Public Domain.” Family Court Review 48.4 (2010): 646-662.

Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children. “The Impact of Abuse on Women as Family Court Litigants.” Family Court Support Worker Training Materials. 2011.

Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children. Study on the Experiences of Abused Women in the Family Courts in Eight Regions in Ontario. Toronto: Ontario Women’s Directorate, 2008.

Mandhane, Renu. The Trend Towards Mandatory Mediation: A Critical Feminist Legal Perspective. Toronto: Ontario Women’s Justice Network, 1999.

Ontario Women’s Directorate. “Transforming our Communities: Report from the Domestic Violence Advisory Council.” 2009: 64-68.

Zorza, Joan. “Batterer Manipulation and Retaliation Denial and Complicity in the Family Courts.” 2001. Online: http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org/info/custody-abuse/overview/batterer-manipulation-and-retaliation-denial-and-complicity-in-the-family-courts

 

E. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAMILY AND CRIMINAL COURT

Key issues

  • Information sharing
  • Integrated courts

Suggested readings

Waldman, Geraldine (Justice). “The What and Why of the Proposed Integrated Domestic Violence Court.” Ontario Bar Association Family Law Section Newsletter 22.2 (November 2010). Online: http:// www.oba.org/En/Family_en/newsletter_en/v22n2.aspx#Article_2.

Case law

Shaw v Shaw (2008) OJ No 1111, 2008 ONCJ 130

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Appendix A4: Criminal Law and Violence against Women

1. Content description

This unit examines the role of criminal law in addressing violence against women, the limitations in the criminal law response and the unique challenges and barriers in using criminal law as a tool to control violence against women.

The material is divided into two sections: domestic violence and sexual assault. This is far from a perfect division, as sexual violence can occur as part of “domestic violence,” but the criminal law response uses this division, and much of the writing on this topic is also divided along these lines. In addition, instructors may wish to include consideration of human trafficking in this module.

This unit has been developed as an introduction to the relationship between violence against women and criminal law. Already existing courses at some law schools, such as Elizabeth Sheehy’s work at University of Ottawa (in particular, her two courses Defending Battered Women on Trial and Sexual Assault Law) are excellent examples of ways some of these issues can be explored in greater depth at the upper year level.

 

2. Possible Teaching Tools

Guest speakers

  • Crown Attorney
  • Defence lawyer
  • Victim Witness Assistance Program worker
  • Victim/survivor
  • Member of the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee
  • Judge from Integrated Domestic Violence Court (in Toronto)
  • Criminal Court Judge

Activities

  • Observation of criminal court proceedings in VAW case

 

A. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Key themes

  • Overview of criminal law and violence against women: relevant sections of the Criminal Code, tools for Crown and defence, outcomes of inquests and the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee reports)
  • Mandatory charging/Crown domestic violence policies: historical context and current challenges
  • Bail
  • Counter/dual charging of women
  • Recanting/reluctant witness/consequences
  • Sentencing

Suggested readings

Cameron, Angela. “Sentencing Circles and Intimate Violence: A Canadian Feminist Perspective. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 18 (2006): 479.

Cote, Andree, Diana Majury and Elizabeth Sheehy. “Stop Excusing Violence Against Women.” National Association of Women and the Law. 2006. (the defence of provocation)

Crocker, Diane. “Criminalizing Harassment and the Transformative Potential of the Law.” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 20 (2008): 87-110.

Domestic Violence Death Review Committee Reports

Ford, D. “Coercing victim participation in domestic violence prosecutions.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 18.6 (2003): 669-684.

Grant, Isabel. “Intimate Femicide: A Study of Sentencing Trends for Men who Kill their Intimate Partners.” Alberta Law Review 47 (2010): 779-822.

Inquest Reports: May/Iles, Hadley.

Lanthier, Stephanie. “Documenting Women’s Experiences with the Toronto Police Services in Domestic Violence Situations.” Prepared for the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto. March 2008.

McMahon, Martha and Ellen Pence. “Making Social Change: Reflections on Individual and Institutional Advocacy with Women Arrested for Domestic Violence.” Violence Against Women 9:1 (2003).

Ministry of the Attorney General. Domestic Violence Court Evaluation. 2006.

National Institute of Justice. A Comparison of Two Prosecution Policies in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence: Mandatory Case Filing vs Following the Victim’s Lead. September 2007.

Ontario Women’s Directorate. “Transforming our Communities: Report from the Domestic Violence Advisory Council.” 2009: 79-81. (mandatory charging)

Pollack, Shoshana, Vivien Green and Anke Allspach. “Women Charged with Domestic Violence in Toronto: The Unintended Consequences of Mandatory Charge Policies.” Prepared for the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto. March 2005.

Salvaggio, Frances. “K-Court: The Feminist Pursuit of an Interdisciplinary Approach to Domestic Violence.” Appeal 8 (2002): 6-17.

Stark, Evan. Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life. Oxford University Press, 2007: 36-40, 60-66.

Turpel-Lafond, Mary Ellen. “No Private Matter: Honouring Christian Lee: Protection Children Living with Domestic Violence.” Report prepared for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. 2009: 1-4.

Ursel, Jane, Leslie M. Tutty and Janice Lemaistre (eds). “From Shelter Worker to Crown Attorney: One Women’s Journey.” What’s Law Got To Do With It? The Law, Specialized Courts and Domestic Violence in Canada. Toronto: Cormorant Book Inc., 2008: 46-68.

Ursel, Jane, Leslie M. Tutty and Janice Lemaistre (eds). “Specialized Justice: From Prosecution to Sentencing in a Toronto Domestic Violence Court.” What’s Law Got To Do With It? The Law, Specialized Courts and Domestic Violence in Canada. Toronto: Cormorant Book Inc., 2008: 120-147.

Case law

R v Bates (2000) OJ No 255

R v Craig (2011) OJ No 893

R v D.S.F. (1999) OJ No 688 (CA)

R v Inwood (1989) OJ No 428

R v Lavallee (1990) 1 SCR 852

R v KGB (1993) 1 SCR 740

R v Khan (1990) 2 SCR 531

R v Khelowan (2006) 2 SCR 787

R v Rashid (2007) OJ No 3289

R v Ryan (2011) NSJ No 157, 2011 NSCA 30

Shaw v Shaw (2008) OJ No 1111, 2008 ONCJ 130

Statutes

Criminal Code:

  • Section 222 (homicide)
  • Section 229 (murder, manslaughter)
  • Section 264 (criminal harassment)
  • Section 264.1-269 (assault)

Film

Crime after Crime

 

B. SEXUAL ASSAULT

Key themes

  • Rape myths ( Criminal Code, section 276)
  • Credibility
  • Consent (Criminal Code, section 273.1, 265)
  • Privacy of complainant’s records (Criminal Code, section 278.1)
  • Prior discreditable conduct

Suggested readings

Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 22 (2010):

  • Lazar, Ruthy. “Negotiating Sex: The Legal Construct of Consent in Cases of Wife Rape in Ontario, Canada”: 329-363.
  • Randall, Melanie. “Sexual Assault law, Credibility and “Ideal Victims:” Consent, Resistance and Victim Blaming”: 397-433.
  • Sampert, Shannon. “Let Me Tell You a Story: English- Canadian Newspaper and Sexual Assault Myths”: 301-328.
  • Savarese, Josephine L. “Doing No Violence to the Sentence Imposed: Racialized Sex Worker Complainants, Racialized Offenders and the Feminization of the Homo Sacer in Two Sexual Assault Cases”: 365-395.
  • Sheehy, Elizabeth. “Editorial”: iii–viii.

Canadian Women’s Studies 28.1 (2009/2010):

  • Cairns, Rosemary and Daphne Gilbert. “Teaching Sexual Assault: The Education of Canadian Law Students”: 67-80.
  • Hakvag, Hedda. “Does yes Mean Yes?: Exploring Sexual Coercion in Normative Heterosexuality”: 121-126.
  • Pietsch, Nicole. “I’m Not That Kind of Girl: White Femininity, the Other, and the Legal/Social Sanctioning of Sexual Violence Against Racialized Women”: 136-140.
  • Quinlan, Andrea. Curtis Fogel and Elizabeth Quinlan. “Unmasking Scientific Controversies: Forensic DNA Analysis in Canadian Legal Cases of Sexual Assault”: 98-107.

Beres, Melanie, Barbara Crow and Lise Gotell. “The Perils of Institutionalization in Neoliberal Times: Results of a National Survey of Canadian Sexual Assault and Rape Crisis Centres.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 34.1 (2009): 135-163.

Cormack, Elizabeth and Tracey Peter. “How the Criminal Justice System Responds to Sexual Assault Survivors: The Slippage between ‘Responsibilization’ and ‘Blaming the Victim.’” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 17 (2005): 287-294.

Derynck, Jessica. “Lacking Context, Lacking Change: A Close Look at Five Recent Lower Court Sexual Assault Decisions.” Appeal: Review of Current Law and Law Reform 14 (2009): 108.

Dubois, Teresa. “Police Investigation of Sexual Assault Complaints: How far have we come since Jane Doe?” Sexual Assault Law, Practice and Activism in a Post- Jane Doe Era Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2012 (publication forthcoming).

Dylan, Arielle, Cheryl Regehr and Ramona Alaggia. “And Justice for All? Aboriginal Victims of Sexual Violence.” Violence Against Women 14.6 (2008): 678-696.

Gotell, Lise. “Rethinking Affirmative Consent in Canadian Sexual Assault Law: Neoliberal Sexual Subjects and Risky Women.” Akron Law Review 41.4 (2008): 865-898.

Gotell, Lise. “When Privacy is Not Enough: Sexual Assault Complainants, Sexual History Evidence and the Disclosure of Personal Records.” Alberta Law Review 43 (2006): 743-778.

McDonald, Susan and Andrew Wobick. “Bill C-46: Records Applications Post-Mills, A Caselaw Review.” Department of Justice Canada Research Report. 2004.

Ruparelia, R. “Does ‘No’ mean Reasonable Doubt: Assessing the Impact of Ewanchuk on Determinations of Consent.” Canadian Women’s Studies 25 (2006): 167-172.

Sheehy, Elizabeth. “Causation, Common Sense, and the Common Law: Replacing Unexamined Assumptions with What We Know about Male Violence against Women from Jane Doe to Bonnie Mooney.” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 17 (2005): 87-116.

Vandervort, Lucinda. “Honest Beliefs, Credible Lies, and Culpable Awareness; Rhetoric, Inequality and Mens Rea in Sexual Assault.” Osgoode Hall Law Journal 42 (2004): 625-660.

Case Law

R v Ewanchuk (1999) 1 SCR 330

R v Mills (1999) 3 SCR 668

R v O’Connor (1995) 4 SCR 411

R v Shearing (2000) 3 SCR 33

Jane Doe v Board of Commissioners of Police for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto et al., (1998), 39 OR (3d) 487

Statutes

Criminal Code:

  • Sections 151-155 (sexual offences)
  • Sections 271, 272, 273, 273.1 (definition and proof of sexual assault)
  • Sections 278.1 – 278.9 (production of third party records)

Film

The Trials of One Jane Doe

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Appendix A5: Ethics, Professionalism and Practice Considerations

1. Content description

This unit provides students with information and skills to assist them in identifying the presence of violence against women in their work and in managing cases and files where violence against women is an issue. It will examine topics related to ethics and professionalism across areas of practice and will explore issues that have unique elements when a lawyer is working with a client who has experienced or perpetrated violence against women. This unit allows students to develop skills to handle ethical, professional responsibility and practice management skills that may arise in their work.

 

2. Possible Teaching Tools

Guest speakers

  • Lawyers practicing in various areas of law
  • Legal support worker (from a VAW organization)
  • Case studies
  • Hypotheticals
  • Role plays
  • LSUC discipline committee decisions

3. Ethical issues related to violence against women

Key themes

  • Role of the lawyer
  • Dynamics of violence against women
  • Impact on survivor’s engagement with law, relationship with lawyer, legal process
  • Characteristics/dynamics of abuser
  • Child issues related to violence against women

Suggested readings

American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence. When will they ever learn: Educating to End Domestic Violence: A Law School Report. 1996.

Birnbaum, Rachel and Nicholas Bala. “The Child’s Perspective on Legal Representation: Young Adults Report on their Experiences with Child Lawyers.” Canadian Journal of Family Law 25 (2009): 11-71.

Cross, Pamela. “Through the Looking Glass: The Experiences of Unrepresented Abused Women in Family Court.” Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children. March 2008.

Goodmark, Leigh. “Going Underground: The Ethics of Advising a Battered Woman Fleeing an Abusive Relationship.” University of Missouri-Kansas Law Review 75.4 (2008): 999-1023.

Schneider, Elizabeth M. Battered Women and Feminist Lawmaking. Yale University Press, 2000.

Stark, Evan. Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life. Oxford University Press, 2007: 135-167.

Williamson, Emma. “Living in the World of the Domestic Violence Perpetrator: Negotiating the Unreality of Coercive Control.” Violence Against Women 16.12 (2010): 1412-1423.

 

4. Professional responsibilities

Key themes

  • Role of the lawyer
  • LSUC Rules of Professional Conduct as they relate to managing a case involving violence against women
  • Confidentiality and conflict of interest issues
  • Ability to recognize presence of violence against women in file/client (whether victim or abuser)
  • Responsibilities and duties as an officer of the court
  • Managing vicarious trauma
  • The duty to report
  • Issues related to non-representation

Suggested readings

American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence. Standards of Practice for Lawyers Representing Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking in Civil Protection Order Cases. 2007.

Birenbaum, Rachel and Nicholas Bala. “The Rise of Self-Representation in Canada’s Family Courts: The Complex Picture Revealed in Surveys of Judges, Lawyers and Litigants.” For presentation to the Federation of Law Societies, National Family Law Program. July 2012.

Burman, John M. “Lawyers and Domestic Violence: Raising the Standard of Practice.” The Michigan Journal of Gender and Law 9 (2003): 207.

Carey, Camille. “Correcting Myopia in Domestic Violence Advocacy: Moving Forward in Lawyering and Law School Clinics.” Columbia Journal of Gender and Law (2011): 1-45.

Law Society of Upper Canada, Lawyer Licencing Materials

Law Society of Upper Canada, Rules of Professional Conduct

Levin, Andrew P. and Scott Greisberg. “Vicarious Trauma in Attorneys.” Pace Law Review 24 (2003): 245.

Weisberg, D. Kelly. Domestic Violence: Legal and Social Reality. Aspen Publishing, 2012.

 

5. Practice considerations

Key themes

  • Practice tips for working with survivors and abusers
  • Interviewing techniques
  • File management
  • Risk assessment and safety planning for client and lawyer

Suggested readings

Bell, Margret E. and Lisa A. Goodman. “Supporting Battered Women Involved with the Court System.” Violence Against Women 7 (2001): 1377.

Buel, Sarah M. “Effective Assistance of Counsel for Battered Women Defendants: A Normative Construct.” Harvard Women’s Law Journal 26 (2002): 217.

Chewter, Cynthia. “Best Practices for Representing Clients in Family Violence Cases.” Department of Justice Canada. 2011.

Meier, Joan S. “Notes from the Underground: Integrating Psychological and Legal Perspectives on Domestic Violence in Theory and Practice.” Hofstra Law Review 21 (1993): 1295.

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