MANITOBA LAW JOURNAL

“They Just Don’t Care” : Women Charged with Domestic Violence in Ottawa

This article explores the phenomenon of women in Ottawa being inappropriately charged in situations of intimate partner violence, despite policy in Ontario mandating that police are obligated to lay charges against the primary or dominant aggressor. This therefore begs the question of how police apply the policies designed to identify primary aggressors.

Dually Disadvantaged and Historically Forgotten?: Aboriginal Women and the Inherent Right of Aboriginal Self-Government

This article examines the assertion that Aboriginal self-government could limit the individual rights of Aboriginal women in Canada. The authors argue that these concerns are legitimate given the historical discrimination experienced by Aboriginal women. The article begins with a historical perspective and moves to examine the potential impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms upon Aboriginal women's rights. The article concludes that the rights of individual Aboriginal women need to be recognized and protected within any developments concerning Aboriginal self-government.

Reconsidering the Criteria for Assessing Well-Founded Fear in Refugee Law

The article focuses on the international legal definition of a well-founded fear of persecution. The article surveys the interpretation of this element of the refugee definition within domestic courts, particularly those in Canada. The author argues that the traditional objective test often fails to incorporate the nature of a well-founded fear for women refugee claimants who have been victims of a sexual assault. The second part of the article focuses on the means for establishing and assessing the appropriate threshold of a well-founded fear.