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June 13, 2004

Women Abuse Council of Toronto

Farzana Chowdhury

Many thousands of Canadian women experience poverty and violence every day. As each year passes, many more join those women. Violence against women knows no geographical, cultural or linguistic boundaries and it affects all women without regard to their level of income. However, for many women, poverty adds another dimension to the pain and suffering they experience as a result of violence. Poverty limits choices and access to the means to protect and free oneself from violence. It also means more barriers to using services and programs that can help. Low-income women comprise a group with unique needs. This has implications for the community groups and agencies that work with them.

Women Abuse Council of Toronto is a policy development and planning organisation whose mandate is to improve the effectiveness of the community response to woman abuse.

The Council evolved out of a community need to develop a more coordinated approach to woman abuse in Toronto. It was recognised that while there was a range of existing services for assaulted women and their families, as a whole, the services were fragmented, inconsistent and uncoordinated. The fragmentation of such services has an impact on the quality, consistency and accountability of services received by women. Among various programs they have a project named Women's Court Watch Project.

The Women's Court Watch Project is an initiative of the Women's Abuse Council where women survivors, volunteers and students observe domestic violence trials in all of the five courts across Toronto to monitor judge's decisions and to compare the effectiveness of the specialised domestic violence courts.

The main reason of implementing the program was to:
Raise public awareness of issues within the judiciary and the courts about the response to woman abuse cases.
Explore and uncover biases of judges and hold judges accountable to their responses and conduct to victims of abuse.
To provide women survivors of abuse an opportunity to participate in changes to the criminal justice system.
Collect information about the availability of court support services to victims of abuse. To share resources and information with agencies supporting women survivors while also presenting feedback about the courts and services available to women to the greater community.
Compare the situation in the courts over a three-year period. Each year an evaluation and recommendations for change will be presented and published.

Volunteers, survivors and students are involved in the program. The council provides training sessions explaining the court system, the survey, and woman abuse issues, etc.

I think the program is very effective, involving survivors of women abuse is very encouraging for those who still are going through abuse, and cannot find the courage to come out. Many women organisations in Bangladesh have taken programs to deal with women abuse, and offering them assistance to go to court. But I think if some organisations introduce this type of a Women's Court Watch Project it would really benefit the women who are going through abuse and also others, such as students. Students by participating in a wide specialised family and criminal court monitoring programs, learn about the court system first hand.

Exploring and uncovering biases of judges and hold judges accountable to their responses and conduct to victims of abuse is indeed is a step towards an accountable judicial system and ultimately a better society for women.

Farzana Chowdhury is an Advocate.