The LEAF team is proud of the work we have done to advance gender equality in Canada.
Thanks to the hard work of our litigation partners and our volunteer feminist lawyers and academics, we have participated in a record number of cases over the year.
Year after year, this hard work is only made possible with the support of our donors.
In 2019, with the help of our generous donors, LEAF continued to advocate to ensure that Canada’s sexual assault laws are interpreted properly by the courts, are reformed meaningfully by Parliament, and that the public fully understand their sexual rights and responsibilities
LEAF intervened before the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Barton andR v Gagnon to underscore how myths and stereotypes continue to infuse and undermine the integrity of sexual assault trials.
LEAF brought its feminist voice and experience to Parliamentary committees considering reforms to sexual assault laws and policies.
This included our work on how the prosecution of HIV non-disclosurehas both led to the prosecution of marginalized women, including Indigenous and racialized women, and created difficulties in the prosecution of sexual assault cases outside the context of HIV non-disclosures.
Our branches continue to help empower young people by teaching them about sexual rights, responsibilities, and the meaning of consent, through education programs like the Only Yes Means Yes workshop on consent.
For our donors, and would-be donors alike, you have an opportunity to help LEAF continue to challenge laws, policies, and practices that undermine the equality rights of women and girls.
