B.C. not meeting UN-approved women’s rights: report card
VANCOUVER — A legal advocacy group says British Columbia is falling short of meeting targets set by the United Nations on women’s rights.
The annual report card released by West Coast LEAF says the province is missing targets in a UN convention aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination against women in many areas like access to justice, affordable housing and childcare.
Although seven of nine focus areas showed improvements, the highest grade was a C-plus for health and employment.
“The takeaway is that there’s no room for complacency,” said Alana Prochuk, a manager at West Coast LEAF in a news release.
“Now is the time to increase pressure on the provincial government to fulfil its promises and stay accountable to women. B.C. can and must comply fully with international standards for gender equality and human rights.”
The government’s handling of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and access to childcare received a D grade.
The Ministry of Public Safety issued a statement Wednesday saying the provincial government has done a “significant amount of work” to address recommendations made by the B.C. Missing Women Commission of Inquiry.
The statement says the government is committed to addressing the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and “significant initiatives” are planned for next year.
Kasari Govender, West Coast LEAF’s executive director, says the province has stalled on addressing violence and deep poverty experienced by Indigenous women and the organization calls the province’s performance “abysmal.”
The report quotes a December 2016 progress review by B.C.’s auditor general that looked at 21 of the 63 recommendations from the Missing Women’s Commission of Inquiry. Of the recommendations examined, only eight of those were fully met, the report card says.
It adds that a “healing fund” to support the families of missing and murdered women has not been created.
The report also says “bias-free policing standards” have not been established and while new transportation improvements have been announced for Highway 16, the so-called Highway of Tears, the cost of the service poses a barrier to low-income women.
The report also says the lack of affordable, high-quality childcare has consequences on women’s empowerment.
It acknowledges the new appointment of B.C.’s minister of state for child care, which suggests the government will prioritize the issue, but says it’s too soon to predict the results.
The report also says the new government did not include $10-a-day childcare in its September budget update, which John Horgan’s New Democrats campaigned on during the May election.