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Home / Cases and Law Reform / Issue Areas
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ISsue Area

Indigenous Rights and Law

Gender equality cannot be achieved without addressing the past and ongoing harms of colonialism, racism, and sexism. Colonial law has had, and continues to have, devastating impacts on Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA persons. The Canadian state continues to deny Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA persons equal protection and benefit of the law, causing them to disproportionately experience poverty, violence, incarceration, and other negative outcomes.  

LEAF has committed to prioritizing reconciliation and working towards decolonization in our positions in court and through our law reform advocacy. We have supported the hard work of Indigenous women and feminists to remove sex discrimination from the Indian Act, including through litigation with the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) at the Supreme Court of Canada, litigation at the Ontario Court of Appeal, and ongoing advocacy. We have also pushed courts to use s. 15 of the Charter as a tool to address the over-incarceration of Indigenous people, and Indigenous women in particular.

At the same time, LEAF recognizes the inherent limitations of Canadian colonial law in achieving justice for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA persons – and will take steps to better understand our relationship with the diverse Indigenous legal traditions that exist across Turtle Island. We will also ally with Indigenous persons and organizations in our advocacy efforts.  

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Past Project

Legal Strategy Coalition on Violence Against Indigenous Women (LSC)

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Related Cases & Law Reform

Cases

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R. v. Sharma (2020, 2022)

This case concerns the over-incarceration of Indigenous women.   LEAF, in partnership with the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights (the...

Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Canada (A.G.) (2018)

This case concerned sex discrimination in the Indian Act.   LEAF, in partnership with the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), appealed...

R. v. Barton (2017, 2019)

This case concerned the use of racist and sexist stereotypes about Indigenous women in criminal trials, and the meaning of...

Gehl v. Canada (Attorney General) (2017)

This case concerned sex discrimination in the Indian Act, in relation to registration for “Indian status”.  LEAF intervened before the Ontario...
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Submissions

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LEAF and NWAC joint letter in support of access to justice for Indigenous people in Canada
LEAF urges full implementation of Bill S-3
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News

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LEAF is hiring a 2023 Indigenous Summer Scholar!
Supreme Court decision fails to address the mass incarceration of Indigenous women and makes equality rights claims more difficult
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Cases and Law Reform
  • Our Work
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    LEAF’s Feminist Strategic Litigation Plan 2022-2026
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    National Office
    180 Dundas Street West, Suite 1420
    Toronto, ON M5G 1Z8
    [email protected]
    Phone: 416.595.7170
    Toll-free: 1.888.824.5323
    Facsimile: 416.595.7191

    Charitable Registration Number: 10821 9916 RR0001

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    • About
      • Our Story
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      • Board
      • Law Program Committee
      • FAQs
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    • Cases and Law Reform
      • Our Work
      • Issue Areas
        • Reproductive Justice
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        • Identity-Based Oppression
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        • Gender-Based Violence
        • Access to Justice
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      • Search Cases & Submissions
      • Current Work
        • Basic Income Project
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