BCIFV home > Media Releases > January 23, 2002

For Immediate Release: January 23, 2002
Contact: Penny Bain, phone: 604-669-7055 or toll-free within Canada 1 877-755-7055 or
pbain@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org

Media Release:

Government Cuts Will Increase Cost of Family Violence

The Government's cuts are a dangerous attack on the safety of women and children who experience family violence, says Penny Bain, Executive Director of the BC Institute Against Family Violence. Some of the cuts include:

• 40 percent cuts to legal aid services. Women fleeing abuse usually cannot afford legal representation. Custody by the non-violent partner is in the children's best interests. Yet custody is most often contested where violence is a factor, and where contested is often awarded to the abusive partner.
• Expanded emphasis on mediation in custody and access cases. Research shows that the use of mediation in these situations is unsafe. The potential for intimidation makes fair settlement unlikely and the need for ongoing contact prolongs conflict, putting women and children at continued risk.
• The family advocate program will be cut. This program has provided legal representation for children in custody cases to ensure that their best interests are served. As well, all Crown counsel victim services workers, whose role has been to help traumatized victims negotiate the justice system, will be laid off.
• Elimination of core funding to women's centres. Although project funding for women's centres to provide support services to abused women will continue, lack of core funding will close many women's centres.
• Reduction of services to help abusive men address their problems. Contract therapists who provide treatment to abusive men have already received letters indicating that their services will be cut by at least half.
• Closure of five community probation offices, reduction of police training in dealing with family violence, and 'rationalization' of policing costs in small communities and rural areas. These measures will make it more difficult for women to obtain protection, particularly in rural and semi-rural areas where services are already scarce.
• Restrictions to the eligibility of single parents to receive social assistance. This will increase women's financial dependence on abusive partners, often leaving them with a choice between violence and homelessness.
• Restrictions to the eligibility of adolescent children for social assistance. Young people will be required to be independent for two years before becoming eligible for assistance, yet many young people are already homeless as a result of fleeing family violence.

For more information, contact Penny Bain, Executive Director of the BC Institute Against Family Violence at 669-7055 or 1 877-755-7055, pbain@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org.