Completed in March 2011, the Safety of Immigrant, Refugee, and Non-Status Women Project has been a 3-year partnership undertaken by EVA BC with MOSAIC and Vancouver Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services to consult, analyze and take action to address policy gaps that compromise the safety of immigrant, refugee, and women who otherwise are in Canada without legal status who experience violence. This project has been funded by the Law Foundation of BC. To date, the project has developed a number of resource documents that include 8 Provincial Briefing Notes, 6 Federal Briefing Notes, a Literature Review, Annotated Bibliography and Focus Groups Summary.
L-R: Kamaljit Lehal, Harjit Kaur, and Gisela Ruebsaat stand in front of the Women Are Persons! Monument located on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
In May and June 2010, meetings were held with a number of federal and provincial representatives to discuss the key issues and concerns highlighted in the project’s briefing notes. During this time, EVA BC first met and began what has become an ongoing relationship with Senator Yonah Martin, a great supporter of the project’s work who was instrumental in helping EVA BC connect with key figures in Ottawa.
Resource Documents
The following resource documents are all available for immediate download. They include a complete resource guide and a compendium that has been put together for lawyers. Both contain compilations of all the key resource documents produced by the project. To access documents on an individual basis, please scroll down to the sections below.
Immigrant Women’s Project: Safety of Immigrant, Refugee, and Non-Status Women is a 240-page resource guide that contains a collection of the primary resource documents created by the project. It includes our research, consultations that identified the barriers facing immigrant, non-status, and refugee women and recommendations detailed in the 14 federal and provincial Briefing Notes to improve policy and law reform to increase the safety of women. Download file (pdf)
The Role of Canadian Immigration Laws and Policies in Relation to Women’s Safety: A Lawyer’s Compendium contains all the briefing notes produced by the project, as well as information on submissions on specific reforms in process and EVA BC recommendations to the jury and presiding coroner at the Lee Inquest in December 2009. Download file (pdf)
Click here to read our provincial and federal briefing notes Series
Provincial Briefing Notes Series
Provincial Briefing Note 1: Legal Aid for Abused Immigrant, Refugee, and Non-Status Women
Provincial Briefing Note 2: Collection of Sponsorship Debt Accrued by Abused Immigrant Women
Provincial Briefing Note 4: Health Care Services for Abused Immigrant, Refugee, and Non-Status Women
Provincial Briefing Note 8: Training on Violence Against Immigrant, Refugee, and Non-Status Women
Federal Briefing Notes Series
Federal Briefing Note 1: Needs of Women without Status as a Result of Leaving an Abusive Spouse
Federal Briefing Note 2: Gender Bias in Immigration Criteria
Federal Briefing Note 4: Sponsorship Debt for Abused Women
Federal Briefing Note 6: Training of Immigration Officials on Violence Against Women
Other Documents
- A Literature Review
- Annotated Bibliography
- Focus Groups Summary
- Submission to the Public Commission on Legal Aid
- The Immigration Refugee Protection Act, Regulations and CIC Policies
Other Law Foundation Projects Related to Immigrant, Refugee and Non-Status Women, 2008-2011
Legal Education for the South Asian Community (LEAPV): A series of televised and radio broadcast talk shows in English and Punjabi provided legal and justice system information on the theme of violence against women in the South Asian Community. This was a project of MOSAIC.
South Asian Legal Educator: Provides legal education, information and advocacy to help end violence aginst women and children in the local community with the goal of increasing women’s awareness of their legal rights under current family law. Visit their website to access a range of publications.This was a project of the South Fraser Women’s Services Society.
Violence Against Minority Women Project: In collaboration with community partners, this project produced the Talking About Abuse series – 17 TV programs in eight languages that explored violence against women in relationship. This was a project of the People’s Law School.
Mothers Without Legal Status Project: One of the first of its kind in Canada, this project examined the gaps between immigration and family law and offers an information booklet for service providers and a research report with recommendations for change in the Canadian legal and immigration systems. This was a project of the YWCA Vancouver.