Facilitator’s Guide: Introducing front-line workers to CLEO’s

legal rights handbook,“Do you know a woman who is being

abused?”

Challenges, Choices, Changes Conference

March 2009, Toronto

About CLEO

• CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario/Education juridique communautaire Ontario) is a legal clinic that provides low-income and disadvantaged communities in Ontario with legal information and education they need to understand their legal rights

• Publications are free – some are available only online and can be downloaded

CLEO publications

• CLEO materials are accurate, up to date, with clear and concise language

• Cover many areas of law: social assistance, tenants’ rights, refugee and immigration, family and criminal law

• Available in English and French (some publications are in other languages)

• www.cleo.on.ca order form and to sign up for announcements re: new publications

• (416) 408-4420

CLEO’S Legal Rights Handbook

• The handbook, “Do you know a woman who is being abused?” is a valuable tool for women who have experienced intimate partner violence and for service providers working with them

• Revised regularly to reflect changes in the law, recent developments and procedures and resources available to women experiencing domestic violence

Objectives of Facilitator’s Guide:

• To provide agency staff with easy-to-use instructions and materials for planning and conducting an in-house workshop on CLEO’s legal rights handbook

• To introduce key components of the handbook to staff to maximize their ability to use it as an effective resource

• To enhance the knowledge and confidence of staff about legal issues involved in domestic violence situations

Contents of Guide

• Part I: Materials for Facilitator

• Part II: Handouts for Participants

Part I: Materials for Facilitator

• Steps for planning the workshop

• Speaking Notes• Introduction to workshop• Legal rights handbook content - notes• Case scenarios and background notes for

discussion

• Evaluation

Part II: Handouts for Participants

• Objective

• Introduction to Handbook

• Scenarios

• Glossary of some legal terms in Handbook

• Evaluation

Planning the workshop

• Set aside 3 to 3.5 hours

• Prepare an agenda:• Introduction – all (15 to 30 min.)• Review of handbook – Facilitator (60 – 90 min.)• Scenarios – all (60 min.)• Questions and evaluations – all (15 min.)

• Provide Handbook to participants one week before workshop

• Hand out scenarios at the workshop

Introduction

Speaking notes for Facilitator:

• Give background to Handbook – revised with input from many sectors

• Workshop aims to help staff know where to look for information

• Make clear the distinction between legal information and legal advice

Handbook Contents

• Facilitator explains the structure of CLEO’s Legal Rights Handbook, that there are 8 parts, and identifies some of the main issues/topics that are addressed in each part

• Handbook is 60 pages, clear language but detailed information

Part 1: Introduction

• Definition of abuse

• Immigrant women

• Aboriginal women issues

Part 2: Preparing to Leave

• Importance of safety plan and how to make one

• What happens when she calls police

• Evidence – what type she should keep of assault

Part 3: The Criminal Process

• What charges can be laid

• What happens when she is charged

• When will a CAS be contacted

• What happens at a bail hearing – what conditions can be imposed/breaches

Part 4: The Criminal Trial

• Preparing for the trial

• What if she is afraid to testify

• Role of participants in trial process

• Sentences he can get

• Victim impact statements

Part 5: Protecting Yourself

• Family and criminal law orders

• “restraining orders” and “orders for exclusive possession”

• Peace bonds

• How to decide whether to get a peace bond or a restraining order

Part 6: Your Rights Under Family Law

• What women should know about taking the children when they leave

• Involvement of a CAS where there is violence against the mother

• How a judge decides custody

• What if he is not paying support/refusing access

Part 7: The Next Steps

• Social assistance

• Making an application to the CICB (Criminal Injuries Compensation Board)

Part 8: Legal and Community Resources in Ontario

• Give examples of what is available and listed in Part 8, ie. Legal Aid Ontario’s emergency 2-hour advice certificates

• Community Legal Clinics• METRAC – Metropolitan Action

Committee on Violence Against Women and Children

• Assaulted Women’s Helpline

Scenarios

There are 3 scenarios:

•Divide into small groups, with one note taker in each•Read and discuss•Discuss and look for answers in the Handbook•Small groups present notes and discuss with entire group

Facilitator refers to “Background notes” to raise any issues that the group does not discuss

Support for Workshops

• There is some funding for CLEO to provide support to agency staff planning a workshop using the Facilitator’s Guide

• Contact CLEO at (416) 408-4420 ext. 16 or email kmarshall@cleonet.ca

• Support includes assisting the agency Facilitator prepare the workshop, attendance at workshop to support Facilitator, evaluation and any follow up arising from the workshop

Immigrant women, domestic violence and legal issues

It is very important for service providers assisting immigrant women to know what their STATUS is and what implications that status has when helping them make decisions, including whether to call the police.

Three broad categories of status:•Permanent•Temporary•No status (expired visa, etc.)

Permanent Status

•Citizens

•Permanent Residents

•Convention refugees/protected persons

Obstacles for women with permanent status

Permanent status is not affected if she chooses to leave an abusive partner.

She is able to call “911” without fear of police or immigration; however, there is a lot of misinformation in many immigrant communities about this.

Important: There can be immigration consequences if she is charged and convicted of a criminal offence – she needs advice from an immigration lawyer.

Temporary resident status

These women have permission to stay in Canada, temporarily.

Status given for a fixed period of time:•Visitor •Student•Work permit, including Live-in caregivers

Other temporary status:

•Refugee claimant•Pre-Removal Risk Assessment applicant

Obstacles for women with temporary status

• Impact of decision to leave partner depends on his status and whether she is dependent on him – ie. if her refugee claim is joined to his

• If temporary status is valid, she should be able to call “911” without fear of arrest by Immigration – there can be confusion about her temporary status

• Being a victim of crime will not necessarily allow her to remain in Canada to attend trial if her temporary status expires – she can seek to renew her status or talk to the Crown about a subpoena so she can stay in order to testify

• A criminal conviction will jeopardize her ability to remain in Canada – she needs legal advice on this right away

No status

• Women whose visitor visas have expired • Women whose sponsorship has been withdrawn

before they receive permanent resident status • Failed refugee claimants who have not

succeeded with any appeals and who have remained in Canada (they may have an immigration warrant out against them)

• Women without status who have applied for humanitarian and compassionate consideration (this application does not give status or prevent removal from Canada)

Impact of no status

• These women are the most vulnerable• Abusers often threaten to call Immigration• Women do not feel safe calling “911” – despite

Toronto Police “Don’t Ask” policy re: status• Need legal advice and support – referral to

lawyer/community legal clinic to advise/assist with an application to remain in Canada on “humanitarian and compassionate” grounds

Resources for non status women

• Legal Aid Ontario will authorize a woman in an emergency domestic violence situation to meet with a family or immigration lawyer for up to 2 hours for emergency legal advice

• These authorizations can be issued by community legal clinics and women’s shelters

What you need to know

• The woman’s status: permanent, temporary, or no status

• Importance of immigration legal advice if she has been charged with a criminal offence

• What information/referral she needs to get the advice/representation she needs on time – she may be able to pursue an application to remain in Canada on humanitarian grounds

• Referrals to immigration and family lawyers – there may be children with status in Canada and she may need to apply for custody, restraining order, etc…

Resourceshttp://www.cleo.on.ca/english/pub/onpub/PDF/immigration/immwomdv.pdf CLEO fact sheet on immigrant women and domestic violence

http://www.cleo.on.ca/english/six/English/stat-en.pdf CLEO fact sheet on criminal charges and immigration status

www.cleo.on.ca CLEO website

http://www.cleo.on.ca/english/pub/onpub/PDF/legalHelp/ontario.pdf List of community legal clinics in Ontario

http://www.cleo.on.ca/english/pub/onpub/PDF/criminal/handbook.pdf CLEO’s Legal Rights Handbook “Do you know a woman who is being abused?” - See Part 8 pp. 58 -61 for more links and resources

More Resources

Ontario Women’s Justice Network fact sheets on non-status women • http://www.owjn.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=

article&id=195&Itemid=107• http://www.owjn.org/action/non-status.htm

Parkdale Community Legal Services, “Guide to social membership entitlements in Ontario”, updated March 2009