FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WOMEN'S GROUPS WELCOME REVIEW ANNOUNCEMENT
OTTAWA, Wednesday, October 4, 1995 -- The Canadian Association of
Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) was pleased to learn of today's announcement
by the Minister of Justice and the Solicitor General of Canada. "We
are extremely pleased that Ministers Gray and Rock have appointed Her Honour
Judge Lynn Ratushny to review the cases of women imprisoned for defending
themselves against abusive partners," announced Susan Hendricks, President
of the Association. "We have been working toward this goal for almost
four years, so it is a most welcome development, and we believe that the
Ministers made an excellent decision in choosing Judge Ratushny to conduct
the review."
"We are also very hopeful that in addition to providing relief for
women currently serving sentences, this review will result in recommendations
for longer term law reform. The range and relative disparity of criminal
justice system responses to women who have defended themselves against violent
men challenge fundamental notions of justice and fairness. Women who kill
violent partners, generally do so in self defence, to protect themselves,
their children or other loved ones," stated Kim Pate, Executive Director
of CAEFS. "Over the past few years, CAEFS has heard too many accounts
of such acts of desperation; stories of women, who, after years of abuse
at the hands of their partners, faced a criminal justice system that was
ill-equipped to understand their circumstances, much less the reasons for
their actions," continued Pate.
Despite the recognition of the "battered woman syndrome" by the
Supreme Court of Canada in the Lavallee decision, the law has not advanced
significantly. The manner in which the legal test in Lavallee has been interpreted
has severely limited the availability of self-defence for abused women.
Consequently, women continue to be charged, convicted and incarcerated as
a result of their efforts to defend themselves or their children. Furthermore,
of the cases CAEFS has identified, conviction and sentence appeals are virtually
inaccessible. For some, this is because evidence of abuse was never raised
and/or it was deemed irrelevant; thus, an argument that it is new evidence
could be problematic. Many women, when faced with the prospect of a trial,
agree to enter guilty pleas rather than force themselves or their children
to revisit the painful past. Others agree to plead guilty to lesser charges,
such as second degree murder or manslaughter, in the hopes of receiving
more lenient prison sentences.
"CAEFS is pleased that the government
of Canada is agreeing to undertake an examination of all of these cases.
By looking at all of these cases and examining them together, we are confident
that the systemic nature of abuse and the inter-personal dynamic that it
generates will be revealed. Many women's and other justice-seeking groups
will applaud this decision. Minister Gray and Minister Rock are to be commended
for announcing and resourcing this review. We look forward to supporting
the work to be undertaken by Judge Ratushny and we hope that this will result
in recommendations that will increase the confidence of Canadian women that
their needs are not being absolutely ignored by all of our government representatives."
continued Pate.
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For more information, please contact: Susan Hendricks at (403) 262-7722,
or
Kim Pate at (613) 238-2422
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