This report considers the substantive equality rights of women and of children in family law cases involving family violence in British Columbia, with a particular focus on challenges that can arise when a court orders a parenting assessment. and ways to address them. The report is a continuation of the authors’ work relating to the roles and responsibilities of judges to implement the substantive equality rights found in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, described in Family Violence and Evolving Judicial Roles: Judges as Equality Guardians in Family Law Cases, published in the Canadian Journal of Family Law in 2017.

Family Violence and Parenting Assessments: Law, Skills and Social Context (June 2019)
The Honourable Donna Martinson & Professor Emerita Margaret Jackson