That we call ourselves a civilized society, yet we tolerate the dismissal of basic human rights for thousands of our citizens, seems to me to be the most egregious hypocrisy. Here in B.C., the situation has been compounded by the actions of the provincial government. In the mid '90s, the NDP government of the day disallowed family law issues from the legal aid system.
So, let's see, a woman, for example, gets cut off from the family assets when she flees an abusive family home. Neither the family accountant nor the family banks will give her financial information because they know that she will be destitute until some agreement is reached in the divorce process, and their client is now solely the abusive husband. She applies for legal aid to hire a lawyer that will represent her in this process, and is denied because it is a family law matter. She goes to the police about the abuse and being cut off from her assets, and is told there is insufficient proof to lay charges. Church and family turn their backs on her because of the allegations of abuse against the husband, who has been perceived as an upstanding gent. Of course, he will also be the only one of the two of them who will be able to continue to contribute financially to church and family. Nobody likes a poor person on their doorstep.
In fact, the accountant, banker, pastor, family, and police all recommend that she go to a halfway house and start getting over it and on with the rest of her life.
How will you feel when this happens to you? It is happening to thousands of people every year. Is that OK with you?
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