National Association of Women and the Law / Association Nationale de la femme et le droit

Published purpose

Through this 43-month project, the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) will develop and put in place a promising practice for intersectional feminist legal reform: a collaborative GBV-responsive law reform model, which will strengthen the GBV sector. It will address the legal needs of divorced and divorcing victims and survivors of GBV, and work to specifically address the needs of Indigenous, Black and racialized women, immigrant, refugee and newcomer women, women with disabilities, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, and women in northern communities, which may not have been sufficiently addressed by the recent amendments to the Divorce Act. To do so, the project will include a preliminary needs assessment involving consultations with legal experts and stakeholders, a review of existing data and research on the current state of the family justice system’s intersections with GBV, consultations with legal experts, stakeholders, and relevant organizations, and conducting a law reform methodology case study(ies). NAWL will also develop a law reform backgrounder, which will be used to increase partners’, legal experts’ and stakeholders’ understanding of the law reform process and ability to advocate for women’s rights within the family justice system. Through consultations with stakeholders in 4 of the 5 WAGE regions and adopting an approach of collaborative GBV-responsive feminist law reform, NAWL will develop a law reform position paper and a plan to advocate for GBV-responsive family law related to the Divorce Act, which will include an awareness-raising campaign, as well as the creation of materials to raise awareness among lawyers and the general public. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the promising practice. NAWL will be working collaboratively throughout the project with a number of GBV-sector organizations who will be consulted and provide feedback on key project processes and outputs. The law reform position paper and the external evaluation will be shared with partners, supporters, and/or decision-makers. NAWL will also develop, publish, and share recommendations for legislative amendments to the Divorce Act, in the form of a position paper, memorandum or brief, to share information on the promising practice with others so that they may replicate it or expand upon it. The supplemental funding and extension provided in early 2026, will allow the organization to further support federal reform of the Divorce Act; build awareness of the need and support for reforms of the Divorce Act; and research and monitor developments and support efforts to reform family law legislation to better address needs of survivors of GBV. Through this, they will further advance Gender Equality.