B.C.'s first annual gender equality report card was released Tuesday morning, with results suggesting a serious failure of the province to meet international standards.
The report, compiled by the West Coast Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, awarded B.C. a "D" grade overall.
"What we're trying to say here is that we're not doing a good job, we need to make a commitment to women in this province," Alison Brewin, executive director of the West Coast Women's Fund told ctvbc.ca.
"If we want to have a sustainable province that reflects international values, we need to do better."
On two areas of the report, Access to Justice and Missing & Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls, B.C. received a failing grade.
Brewin says the West Coast Women's fund decided to conduct the report after the U.N. expressed interest in the high number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada, and the lack of successful criminal investigations.
"The number of missing and murdered women is ridiculously high," Brewin said. "And there's no move towards a public inquiry into the issue that we can see."
Notable facts contained within the report include:
- B.C. law prohibits judges from considering violence in relationships as relevant to custody and access decisions.
- Private family law services are out of range for many women - the average two-day civil trial costs $38,130.00 in B.C.
- B.C. has the highest overall poverty rate in Canada at 21 per cent - including a disproportionately high number of women, children and Aboriginal people
The report was presented to Premier Gordon Campbell on Tuesday morning. Scoring was based on standards set by the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women.
