Clark, Sheila & Associates. Working with Aboriginal Child Victim Witnesses. Victoria, BC: Ministry of Attorney General, Community Justice Branch, 1996.

This British Columbia-based study was undertaken in order to solicit information from social service and criminal justice professionals, vis-à-vis the needs of Aboriginal children who are victim witnesses in criminal justice proceedings. The study includes a detailed and informative overview of the criminal justice system and its policies regarding child victim witnesses. The results of the study also indicate a need to re-evaluate the role of family and community in preventing family violence, particularly in Aboriginal communities.

This study has policy implications both for the criminal justice system and for social service programs aimed at preventing and eradicating family violence among Aboriginal peoples. This report will be of interest to Aboriginal community leaders, front-line service providers, researchers, and professionals in the criminal justice and social services systems.

Using the Gramscian notion of ideological hegemony, Currie argues that the reason why the government responded so positively to the demands of feminists in the 1980s - which called for violence against women to be treated as a serious crime and for more arrests, stiffer penalties, and increased police intervention powers - is that by doing so the feminist counterhegemonic challenge to end violence against women by eliminating the gender inequality that gave rise to it in the first place was neutralized though its incorporation into the very patriarchal structures it sought to transform. Criminalization, Currie maintains, enabled violence against women to be treated as an individual problem that could be fixed by legal intervention that focussed on incarcerating the violent male and isolating the woman who was experiencing the abuse. This meant that the issue of violence against women could be resolved by existing patriarchal structures (criminal intervention), rather than structural changes (making the necessary social, economic and attitudinal changes that would eliminate the social hierarchies that created violence in the first place). Currie further argues that the call for increased policing and deterrent sentencing to control violent offenders by dominant group feminists has ignored the differential repercussions the justice system has for non-dominant groups - both men and women. Given this, Currie questions whether the social change necessary to end violence against all women can ever be achieved through engagement with a patriarchical institution, that is the criminal justice system. Currie concludes that any solution to violence against women requires a transformational approach to bring about the elimination of social, cultural and racial inequalities, not criminalization which precludes any meaningful redistribution of power.

This exploratory study, grounded in a mainstream theoretical perspective, seeks to identify the way(s) in which an arrest experience may potentially deter subsequent incidents of wife assault by male partners. Drawing on data from three independent surveys of non-arrested and arrested repeat wife assaulters, the two groups are compared vis-à-vis their perceptions of the consequences attached to the act of partner assault.

The results of a quantitative data analysis indicate that "arrest may reduce recidivism not only through deterrence but, in addition, by altering a power dynamic in the relationship, making the wife appear to have more sanctioning power, and by increasing social disclosure" (Dutton et al, 1992:124). The study also suggests that the informal side effects of arrest - disclosure, sanctions from family and friends, the process of publicizing a private event, and life disruptions - may impact on the association of arrest with a decrease in recidivism as much as the effect of the legal sanctions themselves. The results of this study may have implications for the criminal justice system's response to wife assault (e.g., enforcing pro-arrest policies) as well as for victims of wife assault, vis-à-vis the benefits of disclosing their situations and developing an empowering support network.

This study would be of interest to researchers, criminal justice personnel and policy-makers, and possibly workers in women's support services and shelters.

In their study of 287 women who had suffered abuse, carried out in a medium-sized Midwestern U.S. location, Fisher and Rose analyze what factors made these women cross, what they refer to as "the invisible enough line" and seek a restraining order as a way of ending their abusive relationships. Through the use of questionnaires and follow-up interviews with 83 of the women, Fisher and Rose found that the women in relationships of longer than seven years had, prior to applying for a restraining order, experienced abuse for an average of four years and that this abuse was escalating in both frequency and severity. The knowledge that they were unable to stop the abuse on their own and that it was having a negative effect on their children were also prime motivating factors for this action. Obtaining restraining orders was also viewed by the women as a way of ensuring that their story would be publicly recorded, in case anything happened to them, in order to counter their abuser's account. Fisher and Rose also found that the women had positive expectations of what the restraining order would do in the way of protecting them, even though they knew that the very act of obtaining one would not stop the abuse. Instead, the restraining order was seen as a way of interrupting their abusers control though legal intervention, which gave authority to the message the women had been trying to convey to their abusers, namely that the abuse must stop. It was also a way to structure how subsequent interaction between the women and their abusers was to occur. The women viewed the act of getting a restraining order as a positive signal that they could now safely end the relationship and seek a better future. Herein lay what Fisher and Rose saw as the symbolic significance of court protection orders.

Fisher and Rose also map out the tremendous psychological and emotional barriers women must deal with in reaching the decision to obtain these orders and then in physically securing them. Paramount was fear of retaliation from their abusive partners and fear based on past negative experiences with the legal system. For this reason, Fisher and Rose argue, women are especially vulnerable to any negative messages from legal system representatives as they go though this process and also when and if they subsequently need the order enforced. Finally Fisher and Rose point out that when a woman drops a restraining order it is usually because the order has served the purpose she had originally intended it to fulfil. If at a later time the woman should reapply for a retraining order, Fisher and Rose warn that rather than blaming her for dropping the first one, the legal system should support her in her wishes.

Flynn and Crawford point out that some immigrant and visible minority women's groups are highly critical of the mandatory charging and no-drop prosecutorial polices which remove the onus of laying charges against their abusive partners from the abused woman. These women's groups argue that universal application of these mandatory policies fails to acknowledge the "qualitatively different repercussions" these policies have on the lives of non-dominant group women when compared to their dominant group counterparts. Flynn and Crawford counter this argument saying that if combined with "other holistic, preventative, and remedial measures" mandatory charging and rigorous prosecutorial polices, which they believe are essential for securing the safety of all women within their homes, should be uniformly applied in all cases of violence against women in relationships. Flynn and Crawford fully recognize that the negative experiences women from non-dominant groups have had with the criminal justice system due to systemic and institutionalized racism, sexism, classism and heterosexism, and their perception of how their abusive partners will be treated by this system, coupled with fears of community reprisals and economic instability have, in their words "take[n] staggering tolls on [non-dominant] women's confidence in 'helping professionals' abilities to protect them" (p. 93). However they also point out that given that, in the case of Caribbean-Canadian men, the statistics do not show that they are more likely to be incarcerated for abusing their partners than white abusive men, there is no justification for prioritizing "black men's 'public' claims and fears of racial victimization" over the "'private' claims of domestic victimization" of Caribbean-Canadian women. What Flynn and Crawford are arguing, then, is that the fact that the criminal justice system needs to be held accountable for its racism, sexism, and classism and transformed, should in no way exonerate the legal system from intervening to protect the physical well-being of women from non-dominant groups who are experiencing violence in their relationships.

On August 1, 1993, Section 264 of the Criminal Code of Canada was enacted making criminal harassment, as it is officially known, or stalking, as it is more commonly known an illegal act punishable by up to five years in prison. In an extensive study of 601 cases of criminal harassment cases handled by Police, Crown, and the courts, covering the period 1993 to early 1996, and drawn from cases in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, Gill and Brockman reviewed the implementation of Section 264 to assess whether it was really providing women with protection from physical attacks and harassment from men. It should be noted that Gill and Brockman found that 91 percent of the accused charged under this section were men, 88 percent of the victims women, and only 12 percent were total strangers.

Gill and Brockman found that while police and Crown were frequently using Section 264 to prosecute harassment, 58 percent of these charges were stayed or withdrawn before they reached trial. When a conviction was made only 25 percent actually received a jail term (usually four months or less) and 94 percent of all convictions received a probation term (1996:ix). Gill and Brockman also found that of those released before trial many had previous criminal records; had long records of breaches of court orders, and had been reported as being violent with either their current or previous partners in the past. Only a small number of the offenders were found to have an apparent serious psychological illness countering the myth that the stalkers' actions stem from a mental illness. Significant among Gill's and Brockman (1996:67) findings is that the number of charges withdrawn or stayed by Crown and the number of charges withdrawn in exchange for peace bonds, were much higher in comparison to outcomes for Criminal Code charges as a whole and for most specific categories of crime. Therefore this legislation, Gill and Brockman concluded, was hardly sending a strong message that this type of behaviour was not tolerable in Canadian society.

On the positive side, Gill and Brockman claim that because Section 264 covers such a wide range of behaviours that cause concern to victims and does enable Crown Counsel to include the offender's past history of violence when prosecuting such cases, that it has the potential to be effective in protecting women. But the lack of police resources to investigate incidences of criminal harassment; the failure of Crown to interact with and prepare the victim prior to trial, the pressure on Crown to divert rather than prosecute whenever possible; the lack of victim service agencies to provide the needed guidance and support to victims as they negotiate the court system, and the gender bias throughout the criminal justice system which Gill and Brockman argue "contributes to the above systemic barriers and results in extremely weak dispositions by the courts" (1996:68) prevent the potential effectiveness of Section 264 from being realized. In addition Gill and Brockman found that some police and Crown were not adequately trained to recognize the nature and complexities of criminal harassment, and as a result cases were not being handled in the sensitive manner necessary. Gill and Brockman also note that victim impact statements were almost never used in either prosecution or sentencing;

Recommendations made by Gill and Brockman included the setting of some standards for Crown (making an interview with the victim a requirement prior the first court appearance); the need for a more routine use of victim impact statements and history of past violence at sentencing hearings; systematic follow-up in all cases; and more deterrent sentencing. These measures, Gill and Brockman believe, would go a long way to ensuring that not only criminal harassment is viewed as serious criminal behaviour by the criminal justice system but that all violence against women in relationships is a serious crime.

Lannon and Rivers, in their Ministry of Attorney General funded assessment of how well the justice system was complying with the 1993 Violence Against Women in Relationships (VAWIR) Policy, one year after its implementation, found that most components of the criminal justice system were familiar with the policy, that there was a measurable positive impact of the policy's pro-arrest stance as reflected in the increasing number of VAWIR cases in which police are recommending charges, and that coordination among the components of the system had improved. However, they also found that many challenges to successful implementation of the policy remained. This study was based on data gathered from a total of 563 completed questionnaires (one on general feedback and the other on training activities); open-ended discussions at ten regional interdisciplinary workshops; nine individual and group interviews to discuss specific operational concerns; VAWIR Key Indicator reports; a roundtable with ten Administrative Crown members; project files; and special reports. Lannon and Rivers do note the limitations of this data, arising from the distribution of the questionnaire to only senior or administrative personnel from each system and the lack of direct input from junior or frontline staff and from women who have experienced violence in their relationships and criminal justice system intervention.

A number of recommendations were made aimed at improving compliance and clarifying the policy itself. For example, Lannon and Rivers point out the need for explicit guiding principles to be articulated in the policy so as to reduce the conflict arising from varying interpretations of these principles. Equally important is the need for the policy to have clearly stated goals and objectives and how each is to be measured. Lannon and Rivers note that "success" neither needs to be or should be thought of solely in terms of a successful prosecution. Other recommendations focus on the need to develop mechanisms to assess the performance and accountability of the criminal justice systems in their implementation of the policy, which Lannon and Rivers suggest is best done by further research that would ask women who have experienced both relationship violence and legal intervention. Also needed is further development of a monitoring, evaluation, and accountability framework that would link all agencies in the criminal justice system, and for a strong emphasis to be placed on training, not only of Ministry (direct and funded agencies) and Police personnel, but also of the judiciary and of lawyers. Finally, Lannon and Rivers assert that the justice system alone can not solve the problem of violence against women in relationships. Ending the violence against women in relationships, they argue, must involve other systems as well, and especially there must be concerted efforts made to eliminate the negative social attitudes about women held not only by some members and agencies in the justice system but by society at large. To this end, Lannon and Rivers recommend that whatever support needed should be provided by the Ministry of Attorney General to community-level initiatives that are working to counter these negative attitudes.

This report was written as a submission to the 1994 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. The article addresses both women's perspectives on factors that generate and perpetuate domestic violence in Aboriginal communities, and strategies to reduce and eliminate violence. The author notes that while the Royal Commission is primarily interested in policy recommendations, an analysis of violence is critical both to developing a compassionate and comprehensive understanding of the issue, and as a tool in developing strategies to end violence (1994:73). LaRocque begins with an analysis, situated in a feminist and critical conceptual framework, of the factors that have contributed to and perpetuate violence against women in Aboriginal communities - namely, the effects colonialism and racism. According to Larocque, much of the family violence that occurs in First Nations' communities involves sexual assault. Larocque than goes on to addresses the obstacles faced by the victims of domestic and sexual violence, and takes issue with the purported causes of sexual violence, and concludes with her proposed strategies for reducing violence.

LaRocque offers three main categories of recommendations: preventing violence, improving services for victims, and judicial response to offenders. Her recommendations have significant policy implications for federal government initiatives aimed at eradicating family violence in aboriginal communities, vis-à-vis funding, planning, service delivery and public education. LaRocque's report also has major implications for the criminal justice system and its attitudes towards males charged with committing violent or sexual offences against women and children. In addition, the author calls for the need to conduct more research specific to Métis families and concerns, as well as more research aimed at exploring alternative approaches to dealing with sexual offenders, and follow-up on projects currently underway. This report will be of interest to policy makers at the provincial and federal levels of government, professionals in the criminal justice system, researchers, aboriginal community leaders, and agencies that provide social services to First Nations communities.

The purpose of this study, conducted in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, was twofold. First was to determine the legal information needs of immigrant and visible minority women who experience violence in their relationships, including the identification of the specific services required to meet these needs and the barriers that hinder their access to these services. Second, was the examination of the training and information needs of immigrant and ethno-cultural service providers who identify, support and refer these women. Research data came from focus groups and interviews with twenty-four women from seventeen countries, twenty-one of whom spoke English as a second language. Twenty-two of these women had been victims of relationship violence, twelve had reported this violence to the police, and in seven of the cases charges had been laid and trials had taken place. Interviews were also conducted with service providers from eight Lower Mainland agencies who had had direct experience with immigrant and visible minority women who had been abused by their partners.

The researchers found that these immigrant and visible minority women generally lacked confidence in the authorities to help them stop the violence they were experiencing. Other barriers that prevented these women from accessing the legal system for help included a lack of understanding of the laws and policies that dealt with violence against women in relationships, and of the criminal justice system that implemented these laws and policies. As well, the women lacked the resources necessary that would enable them to seek legal services and feared retaliation from their abusers against both themselves and their children. They also feared that they would be ostracized by their communities if they were to go to the authorities for help. The availability of material on legal services in their own language was also identified as a problem. Recommendations for overcoming these barriers, included the wider dissemination culturally accessible information on the BC Ministry of Attorney General's Policy on violence against women in relationships, as well as the Canadian laws which address this violence, and information on how the legal system works when dealing with these cases. It was felt that this knowledge would build the confidence necessary for women from these groups to seek out help to stop violence in their lives. Also addressed was the need for mechanisms that would inform women of what culturally appropriate legal services were available and how to access these services. It was also recommended that curriculum material be developed that could be used to inform and train service providers about the Ministry's Violence against Women in Relationships Policy, the law, and the structure and operation of the justice system -- as well as provide cultural training -- all of which would better enable these service providers to understand the difficulties their clients face and provide the help needed to stop the violence in their lives.

Light and Rivkin interviewed eight abused women on their experiences with the criminal justice system in British Columbia and their assessment of what type of support they needed from this system to enable them to remain involved in the proceeding through to sentence disposition, with the intent of elucidating the women's understandings and expectations of the role of the criminal justice system in ending violence in their relationships. In all cases their abusive partner had been arrested, however as in three cases there was a guilty plea, only five cases went to trial. Three significant factors were identified that contributed to the women's resolve to persist in the process: support received; the validation of their feelings; and whether or not the system empowered them or made them feel powerless. With respect to support, the women felt police did adequately provide the support they needed at the time of the incident, but did not do a follow-up and did not refer them to Victim Services. Crown Counsel's failure to meet with them until the day of the trial and lack of preparation for the courtroom experience impacted very negatively on the women. Overall, the women maintained that support from friends, family, and system's personnel is crucial in determining whether a woman will proceed with the process.

Validation of the woman's feelings was primarily achieved though the process involved in completing a victim impact statement. This statement allowed them to inform their abusive partners of the damage their actions had done to them. Also, by probation and the courts seeking their opinion regarding the most appropriate sentence, the women felt that the criminal justice system was "going beyond imposing criminal sanctions and were actually acknowledging their own past efforts to end the violence" (p. 178). Light and Rivkin found that the most validation of the woman's experience with violence was, according to the women, the judge's public condemnation of their partner's behaviour and that what was done to her was wrong. Finally, empowerment came by overcoming their fears of making public their experiences. The rules and procedures of the criminal justice system however, acted to make the women feel powerless, and this powerlessness was particularly acute in their interaction with Crown counsel.

Light and Rivkin conclude that women who experience violence in their relationships have specific needs from the criminal justice system: protection, validation, information, empowerment, and justice. However the ability of the criminal justice system to provide these needs is limited, given that its assumed "neutrality" prevents it from advocating on the woman's behalf. Therefore what is needed is a holistic, coordinated approach to violence against women in relationships where informal support and advocacy agencies in the community such as transition houses, work together with the criminal justice system and government to ensure that all the needs of abused women are met.

This report describes a criminology field practice study undertaken to assess how effectively the "Violence Against Women in Relationships" policy is being applied by the various players in the criminal justice system. Although the study appears to be primarily grounded in a mainstream theoretical framework, the author does recognize and introduce a feminist analysis into a discussion of the research findings. The study makes use of both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and analyses. A descriptive analysis of the provincial police services' data (over a four year period from 1990-1994) on wife assault cases is combined with a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with criminal justice personnel (police, Crown counsel, judges), as well as staff from victim services, the John Howard Society and a women's shelter in Courtenay, BC. The study will be of interest to researchers and women's organizations who are concerned about the discrepancies between the stated purpose and actual effectiveness of the Ministry of Attorney-General's "Violence Against Women in Relationships" policy.

This document, the second annual report of the Ministry of Attorney-General's "Gender Equality Initiative," provides an overview of the activities undertaken by the Government of B.C. to ensure equal treatment for women in the province's justice system. The report comprises three substantive sections: (1) the Ministry of Attorney-General's activities pertaining to criminal and civil law concerns, human resources (i.e., employment) issues, and an outline of how these efforts are being coordinated; (2) a description and list of the activities carried out by other provincial ministries (e.g., Social Services, Housing, etc.) as they relate to ensuring equality and justice for women; and (3) a discussion of emerging issues that are perceived by the Attorney-General to be a growing concern, vis-à-vis implementing the "Gender Equality Initiative." This report will be of interest to researchers and front-line workers in the women's movement who wish to track the effectiveness of government programs and other initiatives intended to meet the stated goals of the "Gender Equality Initiative."

This report outlines existing, and potential, procedures policies, and programs for women in abusive situations. According to this document, the Ministry of Women's Equality, in conjunction with six other ministries, plan to allocate more funding for increasing and improving services for a greater number of communities throughout British Columbia. The objectives of this increased fiscal support are (1) to give women more access to services they are in need of; (2) to establish services where none previously existed for specific groups of women (i.e., women with disabilities, immigrant women); and (3) to improving services that will satisfactorily meet the needs of aboriginal women. In addition to increasing the number and quality of services available to women, the Ministry of Women's Equality, in collaboration with the Ministries of Education, Multiculturalism and Human Rights, intends to launch a large scale public education campaign that focuses on preventing and stopping violence against women.

This document also identifies problem areas in existing policies and procedures, as well as offering recommendations which may be beneficial to the success of such programs. The recommendations address both political and community concerns in a clear and concise manner. This report will be interest to community-based service agencies, front-line workers in women's centres and shelters, and researchers.

Pajot argues that violence against lesbians in relationships is not a new problem but one that has too long been silenced by both the lesbian and the feminist communities. She sets about first exposing the myths surrounding lesbian relationship violence, claiming that there is no one stereotypical lesbian batterer. Instead, battering can be found in any type of lesbian relationship, for example between lesbians who are feminists, "politically correct," traditional, or role-typed. Another important point she brings out is that just as in heterosexual relationships, self-defence does not equate to mutual battering. As well Pajot warns any attempts at mediation or couple's counselling can be dangerous and should be avoided, instead she maintains that the relationship almost always needs to end in order to stop the violence.

The nature and types of abusive lesbian behaviour are those that can be found in any battering relationship -- physical; sexual; damage to property; economic control; psychological or emotional control -- with perhaps the exception of homophobic control. which involves threatening one's partner that if she does not comply with her partner's wishes, her lesbianism will be revealed. In our homophobic and heterosexist society the threat of this type of exposure can be very coercive.

Pajot writes that getting out: of a battering lesbian relationship is complicated by factors that a heterosexual woman in the same situation would not have to face. For example, support services and friends often minimize the experience of lesbian violence in order to protect what Pajot refers to as the "lesbian utopia" myth. The Battered Woman's Movement as well has denied her experience in order to maintain the myth that "all violence is caused by men." White lesbians seeking help from the criminal justice system are confronted not just with sexism but homophobia as well and for lesbians of colour, there is the additional hardship of racism. Therefore rather than risk having their lesbianism exposed, abused lesbians will often forgo seeking police intervention and restraining orders to protect themselves. Additionally a lesbian's support network is often limited because her lesbianism may have resulted in her family disowning her, and the isolation imposed on her by her abuser may mean she has few friends that she can turn to for help. Even if she does have other lesbian friends, Pajot points out that they may deny that she is being abused or blame her for causing the abuse. Pajot concludes by encouraging lesbians to learn about abuse in lesbian relationships and rather than denying it, be a friend to the abused lesbian. This means being both supportive and nonjudgmental, and letting the lesbian experiencing violence make her own choices about how she wants to deal with it. While Pajot does say that the lesbian batterers need help and that their behaviour should neither be condoned nor ignored by other lesbians, she does not indicate what type of help is needed or how the batterers should go about getting help in a homophobic world.

Using a post-Gramscian structuralist position that employs a Foucaultian concept of law as a form of power, and arguing that an emphasis by feminists on punishment and victimization rather than empowerment and transformation will not end violence against women nor eliminate the gender, class and racial inequalities that create it, Snider looks first at the negative consequences of attempts to utilize the criminal justice system as a means of effecting necessary reforms to bring about a just society, and then offers what she sees as alternative "more productive strategies" to achieve this end. Snider maintains that while the law has the potential to facilitate "liberative struggle," it is unlikely its employment will bring about the aims of such struggles because of its alignment structurally with both capitalism and patriarchy and its key role in maintaining the hegemonic gender, race and class patterns that exist within a society (p. 239). Hence when feminists engage the criminal justice system to punish those who inflict violence upon women, what in fact happens is that the social control exercised by this system over the lives of people marginalized by virtue of their class, ethnicity, race or gender, increases. In light of this, Snider argues, feminists should be devoting their efforts toward enlisting institutions outside the social control/punishment nexus which benefit a large multi-class client group which for example, educate, heal, serve deities, provide public transportation, or supply childcare in their counter-hegemonic struggle to transform the dominant ideologies that disempower and victimize poor people, racialized people and women.

This article outlines the interactive processes of change within and between the Criminal Justice System and the Social Service System concerning the issue of wife abuse in Manitoba over the past seven years. The changes culminated in the development of a Family Violence Court, in Manitoba, in September of 1990. This Family Violence Court was the first of its kind in North America.

Employing a feminist analysis the researcher looked at: spousal abuse statistics, the records of the Winnipeg police department, the quarterly reports of the RCMP, analyses of a selective sample of 1,877 wife abuse cases and program and expenditure data from the department of family services.

The article is separated into three main sections. The first section focuses on the history of the changes that occurred in Manitoba from 1983-84 which marked the government's formal entry into the issue of wife abuse. Phase two from 1985-1987, marked the adjustment of the criminal justice system and the social service system to the notion that wife abuse needs to be addressed as a major issue. Phase three is ongoing and deals with the process of legitimation and normalization of the changes which were introduced in both the Criminal Justice System and the Social Service System in Manitoba.

An assessment of the changes that have occurred over the seven year period examined were substantial and included more arrests, a dramatic increase in assault charges and findings that, "over 70% of the assailants were under the age of 40." (542) Changes within the Social Service System included an increase in the number of programs which are Government funded as well as an increase in the amount of funding provided.

Although the research for this article took place in Manitoba, its findings are relevant to all people working in the Social Service or Criminal Justice Systems, feminist researchers, and advocacy/lobbying groups who are working towards systemic institutional change.

This book emerged out of a workshop organized by the Centre of Criminology at the University of Toronto, in 1994. The workshop brought together 40 academics and government officials to discuss policy and practice issues, vis-à-vis the criminal justice system's responses to wife assault. The book is divided into six substantive sections, an up-to-date bibliography of Canadian publications on wife assault and criminal justice, and several appendices which include copies of the wife assault policies in several provinces across Canada. Part One of this volume is comprised of a detailed summary of the questions and discussions which emerged out of the 1994 workshop. Part Two includes several studies which focus on the views of front-line criminal justice workers (police, Crown, probation workers) who must work with federal and provincial policy directives concerning wife assault cases. Part Two also includes two articles on wife assault that are written from the perspective of front-line advocacy workers in the movement to end violence against women. Part Three focuses on "The politics of survey data"; specifically, the 1993 Statistics Canada survey on violence against women. This section includes two articles which address the criticisms of the survey specifically, and the backlash against the battered women's movement more generally. Parts Four and Five comprise a series of articles and empirical studies that critically examine recent policy initiatives (e.g., the Winnipeg Family Violence Court, the use of civil remedies in Saskatchewan, and the Family Group Conferencing project in Newfoundland) and current debates, respectively. Part Six consists of an historical perspective on wife assault, and the proactive stance women took to mobilize justice officials and social service agencies in 19th century Toronto.

This guidebook offers suggestions for making courts more comfortable, hospitable, and accessible to children and other vulnerable witnesses (including women who must testify against a violent spouse). This document is the product of a study which comprised a literature review on vulnerable witnesses and court design, a series of interviews conducted with a cross-section of knowledgeable individuals throughout the province of British Columbia, and input from the project advisory committee. Although the study does not appear to be grounded in any particular conceptual framework, it is based on a concern for the comfort of victim-witnesses and the need to facilitate the communication of their evidence as effectively as possible.

The recommendations for improvements are addressed to the "court user committee" (e.g., Crown counsel, the judiciary, and Court Services) and could, if implemented, have significant implications for designing and modifying court-rooms, improving security, and receiving testimonial evidence. This handbook will be of interest to professionals in the criminal justice system, researchers, and legal advocates who work with battered women and/or children who have been sexually or physically abused.

The articles in this book represent a good balance between a feminist analysis of the criminal justice system's response to wife assault and the responses and concerns of front-line workers in the criminal justice system to wife assault policy directives and initiatives. The book could serve as a valuable tool for facilitating dialogues on these issues between policy makers, researchers, and front-line workers in both the criminal justice system and the women's movement.

This exploratory study was undertaken to examine the impact of the 1993 Violence Against Women in Relationships Policy (VAWIR) on spousal assault cases reported to the police in Penticton, BC. Although the author does not clearly indicate her theoretical perspective, it may be inferred from her comments in the Abstract that her research is grounded in a feminist conceptual framework. Using the VAWIR Policy's directives of mandatory arrests, stringent prosecution, and deterrent sentencing as indicators, the research project sought to compare the total number of spousal assaults reported before (1992) and after (1994) the implementation of the policy, vis-à-vis selected outcome categories. The researcher applied an archival methodology to a quasi-experimental design. The data were organized and analyzed in terms of the three main VAWIR policy directives and any changes for the justice agencies responsible for administering these directives.

The results of the study indicate that although there was an increase in the number of reports made in 1994, the outcomes of spousal assault incidents have changed very little, pre- and post-policy implementation. Of interest was the finding that while the number of mandatory arrests increased, the number of charges resulting in a "stay of proceedings" also increased dramatically. The outcomes of this exploratory study could have significant policy implications for both police officers and Crown Counsel. The results also suggest a need for rigorous on-going evaluation and monitoring of the efficacy and the impact of the VAWIR policy.

This policy will be of interest to criminal justice personnel (including policy-makers), researchers, and victim assistance workers who interact with female victims of spousal assault. The discourse on the background, and evolution, of mandatory charging policies will be of interest to academics, women' organizations and individuals seeking to broaden their knowledge of the criminal justice system's responses to wife assault.

This article addresses some of the issues surrounding the criminal justice system's efficacy in responding to violence against women. It highlights the shortcomings of the existing system and explores possible alternatives, such as community-based justice initiatives. The author stresses that the three most important factors in establishing an appropriate response to violence against women are as follows: First, women must be included in the entire process, from the acknowledgment of a "problem", to the implementation of a corrective process. Second, women's safety must be taken into consideration, when determining the suitability of a particular program. Third, the author asserts that it is impossible to implement a truly functional justice system, without taking into consideration the issues of power and control. This is especially true for aboriginal women; who are additionally burdened by issues of racism, as well as the tension between individual justice and loyalty to an already oppressed community.

Through a feminist analysis of the current criminal justice system, Zellerer reveals the ways in which the courts and the mediation process are not meeting the needs of women attempting to leave violent situations. While "the hierarchical and adversarial orientation of the justice system is often experienced by women as alienating, oppressive, and psychologically violent," (234) the alternative approach of mediation also fails women, since it does not sufficiently address the issues of power and control. In the end, the author calls for community-based justice initiatives that include women and respect cultural specificity.

This article will be of interest to those concerned with issues surrounding gender and race, in relation to violence against women and associated justice initiatives.