This webinar is Intended for frontline workers who encounter clients dealing with gender-based violence (GBV) in their lives as well as for members of the general public who may be neighbors, friends or family members of people who have been victimized by GBV. The webinar provides an overview of the criminal law response to GBV.

Topics covered in this webinar will include:

What the criminal law can and cannot do in cases of GBV
Criminal offences related to GBV
The steps in a criminal case
The players in the criminal system and their roles
Standard of proof in criminal court
The role of the victim/survivor
How the victim can prepare for court
Services connected with criminal court
What happens after court is over

This interactive webinar will use an intersectional feminist analysis/framework, recognizing that, while men, trans and non-binary folx can be victims of IPV, the victims of the most serious forms of coercive controlling and physical abuse, including lethal violence, are people who identify as women. The instructor, Pamela Cross, is a feminist lawyer who has worked on the legal issues related to gender-based violence for nearly three decades. See: https://pamelacross.ca/

If you or someone close to you is a victim or survivor of intimate partner or gender-based violence, you may find some of the content of this webinar challenging. We encourage you to put in place whatever supports you think you may need, including having someone with you, so you can engage in the webinar in a way that works for you, whether that is listening, or offering comments, or asking questions.