Are accommodations are available at family court for a woman who has PTSD?

The courts, like all government and public institutions and agencies, are required to comply with Ontario’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, which is intended to ensure that all people with disabilities have full and equal access to all public services in the province.
Realities to consider
Before we look at what accommodations are available in the family court,

How can I co-parent safely with an abusive ex-partner?

To maintain their control, abusers often seek shared custody of the children when the relationship ends.
Today’s Parent interviewed Luke’s Place Legal Director, Pamela Cross, and other Canadian experts on ways to co-parent with an abusive-ex-partner.
These include:

Making a safety plan
Creating a safe child exchange
Avoid contact with the abuser
Don’t take the bait
Focus on self-care
Parent separately
Document everything

Read the full article on the Today’s Parent website.

What is the Hague Convention and how can it help if my ex-partner takes our children out of Canada?

The Hague Convention is a tool to assist in having children returned who have been wrongfully removed from one jurisdiction that has signed the Convention to another that has also signed it.
It is an international treaty, the full name of which is the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction,

How should I work with VWAP?

If you are a woman’s advocate who focuses on family law issues, it’s helpful to connect clients to your local Victim Witness Assistance Program (VWAP) if an abusive partner is facing criminal charges.
Keep in mind that:

VWAP workers are employed directly by the Ministry of the Attorney General and have disclosure obligations to the Crown Attorney.

What is intersectionality and how does it impact my work?

Understanding intersectionality is important if we are to provide the best possible services to women. Especially for those of us from the dominant culture, learning about intersectionality, power, privilege and oppression is a lifelong process.
What is intersectionality?
The word intersectionality describes the complex reality of being human. Each of us is shaped by multiple social or cultural identities that affect how we understand ourselves,

How can I manage the impact of calling CAS about a client’s children?

This is the second of two posts on reporting to child protection. The first explored your duty to report.

The woman’s response
A woman who learns that her children are under investigation by child welfare may have many different feelings. She might be:

Afraid that her children will be taken away
Afraid that the investigation will have an impact on her immigration status
Afraid of retribution by her partner for telling the family secret
Relieved that the secret has been shared

Her feelings towards you,

What is my duty to report to child protection authorities?

This is the first of two posts on reporting to child protection. Next week, we’ll look at how to manage the impact of making a report.
You will be confronted, from time to time, with situations where you may have a duty to report a situation to child protection authorities because children have been exposed to ongoing domestic violence and,

What can be done when bail conditions conflict with family law orders?

When someone is charged with a criminal offence, they are generally kept in custody until a bail hearing can be held. At this hearing, the court will determine whether the accused can be released, usually with a number of conditions on his behaviour, or held in jail until his trial.
What are bail conditions?

What do I need to know to support women whose partners have sexually assaulted them?

Intimate partner sexual abuse/violence is poorly understood and under-recognized, both by the women who experience it and those who provide services to them. And yet, in Canada in 2011, 17% of sexual assault reported to the police were committed by current or former partners of the women making the report.
Sexual control/violence within an intimate relationship can look like many things,