CANADIAN JOURNAL OF WOMEN AND THE LAW

In this article, the author discusses a Canadian Shi'a Muslim woman's fight for custody of her child born from a Muta, a temporary marriage characterized in the article as a contract wherein a man offers financial compensation to a woman in exchange for a sexual relationship. The author describes what she believes to be factors of racism and sexism that entered into the judgment by the Canadian court. Particularly noted is the judge's emphasis on what the author refers to as the Eurocentric value of a nuclear family.

This article is a review of the legal challenges over Aboriginal women's rights brought under the Canadian Bill of Rights, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international human rights law. The author argues that although success has been limited in these litigation claims, the cases are still an essential element of the effort to enforce Aboriginal women's rights in Canada. The article examines specific cases concerning the loss of Indian status, matrimonial property, and rights to participate in decision-making.

This article provides a framework for analyzing the right to housing in order to ensure that women can have equal, effective enjoyment of this right. In Part 1, the author argues that the right to housing must incorporate a substantive understanding of women's equality rights. The article also reviews considerations of equality and non-discrimination under international law. Part 2 assesses the extent to which a right to housing under international law conforms to the requirements of substantive equality.

This article considers the interaction of race and gender within the refugee application process in Canada. The author argues that the system fails to recognize how the dominant social and political systems created by colonization perpetuate the violence and victimization of women. Part I consists of a theoretical examination of the subject of refugee law and how women are constructed in these scenarios.

Although women immigrants are not the specific focus of this article, this case comment demonstrates women's interaction with the immigration determination system in Canada. The Baker case considers the request for humanitarian and compassionate consideration by a woman who entered Canada illegally and worked as a live-in domestic. The focus in this article is on the specific considerations of the best interest of the children of Baker, with a discussion of the incorporation of considerations of Canada's international legal obligations.

This article explores different theories addressing the tension, both real and perceived, of cultural claims and gender equality in the legal system. The author presents two opposing theories, Universalist and Post-Colonial, the former relying on an Enlightenment influenced cultural ranking, and the latter using a nuanced post-colonial approach to culture as a basis for analysis. Although divergent in approach, the author finds that the two theories reach the same conclusion with respect to gender: cultural equality and gender equality are diametrically opposed.

In December 2000, the Canadian government amended the Employment Insurance Act to extend parental leave benefits to 35 weeks. Combined with the maternity leave provision of 15 weeks (which remained unchanged), this amendment allowed birth mothers to take up to 50 weeks combined leave. This article assesses the amendment within the context of globalization and neo-liberal policy reform that emphasize a reduction in state delivery of social programs.

This case comment discusses an appeal to the Social Assistance Review Board of a lower directors decision to refuse to grant benefits under the Family Benefits Act (1990) to a woman with HIV. The author discusses how the categories of permanently unemployable person or disabled person as defined within the Act discriminate against women. She also discusses how prejudices amongst health professionals toward HIV infected women work against these women in legal proceedings of this kind. The author further discusses how the governmental definition of AIDS discriminates against women.