The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) is a national charitable organization that advances gender equality through law. We use litigation, law reform, and public legal education to protect and strengthen the rights of women, girls, trans, and non-binary people in Canada.
Since our founding in 1985, LEAF has been involved in over 145 cases that have advanced gender equality in Canada. Our work has resulted in landmark victories on discrimination, consent law, reproductive rights, parental benefits, spousal support, pension and retirement benefits, pay equity, sexual violence, survivors’ equality, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, and workplace rights.
SEE A TIMELINE OF OUR KEY MILESTONES HERE
We welcome you to learn more about our work. As LEAF works towards gender equality, we strive to centre the voices of those who are marginalized and face intersecting grounds of discrimination.
If you have any questions, please contact us.
LEAF’S FOUNDERS
In 1985, LEAF’s founders recognized that ensuring the inclusion of the equality provision in the Charter was just a first step on the path to gender equality. The implementation, interpretation, and defence of equality rights would require ongoing advocacy. LEAF was born to do just that, with deeply committed feminists both initiating and driving the work forward.
Jennie Abell
Denise Arsenault
Beth Atcheson
Flora Buchan
Patricia Cooper
Daphne Dumont
Mary Eberts
Halyna Freeland
Dale Gibson
Nancy Ruth
Helene LeBel
Gayle MacDonald
Shauna MacKenzie
Marilou McPhedran
Sylvia Neschokat
Brigid O’Reilly
Yvonne Peters
Eve Roberts
Loretta Scott
Magda Seydegart
Lynn Smith
Eloise Spitzer
Donna Stephania
Beth Symes
Susan Tanner
READ ABOUT OUR MISSION AND VISION
Land Acknowledgement
LEAF’s office is located in Tkarón:to, which is a Mohawk word that means “the place in the water where trees are standing.” This land is governed by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, a nation to nation peace agreement between the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, the Wendat, and other allied nations. All of us who share this territory share the responsibility to take care of the land and the creatures we live alongside. We must also work to ensure that the dish is never empty, and keep the peace.
Acknowledging the history of the land also requires us to reflect on LEAF’s position as an organization working for gender justice in the context of a legal system grounded in colonialism and white supremacy. This system formed a part of efforts to erase and eliminate Indigenous persons and their cultures. Colonial laws and policies continue to subject Indigenous persons, in particular Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA individuals, to disproportionate levels of violence and poverty.
LEAF also acknowledges the resilience and strength of Indigenous persons and communities, who have fought and continue to fight back against these systems of oppression. We must do more to centre the voices of those who face marginalization, acknowledge our complicity in this system, and push back not only against patriarchy, but also colonialism, white supremacy, and racism. Only by doing so can we truly work towards gender justice, and justice for all.
