Women’s rights organizations denounce end to legal aid for Quebec domestic violence victims

An open letter has been signed by several women’s rights organizations denouncing the end of funding for specialized legal representation services for victims of domestic and sexual violence in Quebec. 

These legal services — provided by Rebâtir — were part of a pilot project supported by the Quebec government since 2023 to provide specialized lawyers to help victims of conjugal violence with their legal challenges involving a violent former partner. 

“It is really a service that has given women confidence and allows them to have confidence in justice. And then, one day, the ex-spouse will stop harassing them in every possible and impossible way,” Manon Monastesse, the director general for the Fédération des maisons d’hébergement pour femmes and co-author of the open letter.

“We saw that the women who were represented managed to get better judgments, judgments that took into account the presence of domestic violence,” said Louise Riendeau of the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale. “So, for these women, there was a direct impact and there is also an impact on the evolution of the law.”

“For us, when we learned that Rebâtir and the team of specialized lawyers at Rebâtir were going to provide legal representation, it was a victory, we were so happy,” added Cathy Allen, the coordinator at Alternative pour Elles shelter.

The open letter, which was published in LaPresse Wednesday, demands the Quebec government maintain support for these legal services because of the serious consequences these cuts could have on conjugal violence survivors and their children.

“It is truly a very, very great loss for us, for the shelters that support these women, but it is a great loss for women victims of domestic violence as a whole,” Allen said.

“They came to cut this program and that’s what greatly weakens women, and that’s what’s hard for us to understand in the current context.”

In a written response to CityNews, the Office of the Minister of Justice for Quebec said that the program was a one-year pilot project that ended last September and that the victims who were eligible for the pilot project were already eligible for legal aid. The end of the pilot project in no way makes them ineligible.

In another written statement to CityNews, the Legal Services Commission (Commission des services juridiques) said that the program had two objectives: represent victims eligible for legal aid in the event of a conflict of interest by legal aid permanent lawyers (situations where legal aid had previously been served by a permanent lawyer from the same legal aid office to a former partner) ; and to train Rebâtir lawyers on the rights and realities of Indigenous victims in order to offer adapted services.

The Legal Services Commission added that 26 cases out of 190 cases had instances where conflict of interest was identified.

“We’re asking Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, the minister of justice, to maintain this service that has proven itself,” said Monastesse.

“For us it is extremely important that it be maintained because precisely these are lawyers who are well trained and who can better defend women and also ensure their safety in situations of domestic violence.”

Added Riendeau: “We are closing the door that we had opened for better access to justice for these women. So, that is why we absolutely have to reconsider this decision.”