No lip-service from this women and girls advocate.
By Sabrina Kooistra
Youngest female Cabinet Minister in Canadian history. Former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Business leader and innovator. Tireless advocate for women and girls.
Rona Ambrose has set a lofty precedent.
Among her many attributes as a politician and businesswoman is a revolutionary contribution to the Canadian legal system. This piece of legislation will have profound long-term impacts and will undeniably improve the approaches the Canadian court system takes to sexual violence cases.
Sexual violence is a sensitive topic and it deserves sensitivity from the legal system.
By introducing the “Judicial Accountability Through Sexual Assault Law Training Act,” which requires judges to complete sexual violence training, Ambrose hopes that this critical bill will “[support] victims of sexual assault and [improve] our justice system” (Connolly, 2020). Inspired by a number of high-profile sexual assault cases, Ambrose put the private member’s bill forward to put an end to court room experiences that are unfeeling and dehumanizing toward sexual assault victims.
As YYC for Women continues to support the Women’s Centre of Calgary, we are reminded that sexual violence disproportionately affects women and girls– women and girls who live in our neighbourhoods, work in our workplaces, and study in our schools. It takes more than paying lip-service to advocacy to support those left broken by sexual violence.
I truly admire Rona Ambrose’s fierce advocacy for women and girls and especially victims of sexual violence seeking justice from our court systems. It takes brave, committed leaders to not only inspire change, but to create it.
That is why Rona Ambrose inspires me.
References
Connolly, A. (2020). Rona Ambrose’s judicial sex assault law training bill gets 2nd shot as Liberals retable. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/6504372/rona-ambrose-judicial-sex-assault-law-training-bill/
Wyld, A. (2017). [Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose] [Photograph] CBC.ca. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/world/year-in-pictures.html
Thanks Sabrina!
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