D1: Sponsorship Breakdown and Domestic Violence – How to Help Prevent Deportation (English and FRENCH)) (Offered again on Friday morning E11)
Level: Intermediate
This workshop will examine the issue of sponsorship breakdown and domestic violence, providing workshop participants with the information they need to help women in such a situation. Through a combination of lecture, discussion, and analysis of case scenarios, you will:
- better understand the sponsorship process
- gain a better understanding of why some women stay with abusive sponsors
- learn what government benefits are available or not available to women and children who leave abusive sponsors before or after gaining permanent residence
- learn the steps that a woman should take if leaving her abusive sponsor and taking her children
- gain an understanding of the possible immigration consequences if a woman being abused calls the police during the sponsorship process
- gain an understanding of the humanitarian and compassionate procedure which is a woman’s main legal option if her sponsorship breaks down due to abuse
Heather Neufeld is an immigration and refugee lawyer at South Ottawa Community Legal Services, a legal aid clinic. Much of her work focuses on legal issues facing immigrant women who have experienced gender-based violence. Heather also provides legal presentations on topics related to domestic violence and immigration law for various organizations in the Ottawa community. She is the author of “Inadequacies of the Humanitarian and Compassionate Procedure for Abused Immigrant Spouses: A Proposal for Reform”, an article in the most recent issue of the Canadian Journal of Law and Social Policy. In addition, she is a member of the current executive of the Canadian Council for Refugees.
Jean Lash has practiced immigration and refugee law at South Ottawa Community Legal Services since her call to the bar in 2004. She has had many clients who suffered from gender violence before coming to Canada only to find the same kind of abuse perpetuated in Canada. Before becoming a lawyer, Jean worked for 15 years in the field of international development where she specialized in women’s issues. She spent seven years abroad in Mali and Cambodia working with Oxfam UK, UNICEF and the Canadian International Development Agency. In Canada she worked for the Canadian Council for International Cooperation and has volunteered at a woman’s shelter.
