It’s My Choice
EXPANDING TRAUMA-INFORMED LEGAL SERVICES TO WOMEN AND LGBTQST+ SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE ACROSS ONTARIO.
Project Overview
In 2016, the Clinic became the only onsite, feminist location to provide independent legal advice (ILA) to survivors of sexual assault as part of the Ministry of the Attorney General’s pilot project. With funding from the Department of Justice, It’s My Choice builds on this well-established framework to provide both ILA and independent legal representation (ILR) to survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
The Clinic sees partnerships with partners, membership-based organizations and community organizations where survivors are most comfortable and first disclose their experiences as an underlying priority to establishing and maintaining a network of sites that can respond to survivors’ needs and support the project’s goal of building capacity and effect systemic change.
For more information, please email [email protected]
It's My Choice Project Webinar Series
IMC: Basics of Family Law | Recorded Webinar
This webinar is part of a series for the It’s My Choice Project, funded by the Department of Justice. This webinar talks about Family Law and Domestic violence, and discusses some common family law issues that survivors of intimate partner violence may deal with when ending an abusive relationship.
IMC: Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) Grounds | Recorded Webinar
This webinar is part of a series for the It’s My Choice Project, funded by the Department of Justice. This webinar talks about Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds applications for permanent residence in Canada. This is one pathway that a survivor of gender based violence who is in Canada can consider, to apply for permanent residence.
IMC: Temporary Residence Permits (TRP) for Victims of Family Violence | Recorded Webinar
This webinar is part of a series for the It’s My Choice Project, funded by the Department of Justice. This webinar talks about Temporary Residence Permits for Victims of Family Violence. For a person who does not have status in Canada and is a survivor of intimate partner violence In Canada, this is one pathway they can consider to secure their status in Canada for a specific, temporary period of time.
IMC: Removal Orders | Recorded Webinar
This webinar is part of a series for the It’s My Choice Project, funded by the Department of Justice. This webinar talks about what a Removal Order is and what it means when one is issued from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). If you are a survivor of gender-based violence, it may be helpful to view other webinars in this series about Temporary Residence Permits For Family Violence and Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds applications. If you receive a removal order, you should talk to an immigration lawyer as soon as possible.
IMC: Spousal Sponsorship | Recorded Webinar
This webinar is part of a series for the It’s My Choice Project, funded by the Department of Justice. This webinar talks about how your spouse or partner can sponsor you to become a permanent resident in Canada, and what to do if your relationship has broken down and you want to apply for permanent residence without your partner.
Increase access to justice
It’s My Choice will increase access to justice by providing fully integrated trauma-informed independent legal advice and independent legal representation to women and gender-diverse people who have experienced sexual assault and/or intimate partner violence (IPV).
- For sexual assault survivors, this includes criminal and non-criminal options,
- For survivors of IPV, this includes family law, immigration law, and intersections with criminal law.
Increase access to specialized services
It’s My Choice will reach survivors in the GTA and around the province.
In partnership with community organizations across the province, sexual assault and intimate partner violence survivors will have the option to access specialized trauma-informed ILA and ILR services remotely, at satellite or “pop-up” clinics, and onsite at the Schlifer Clinic.
Increase capacity for ILA and ILR
It’s My Choice will increase capacity for ILA and ILR by designing and delivering public legal education on feminist, trauma-informed legal training and risk assessment to members of the general public, lawyers and court support workers across Ontario.
Contact Us
For more information on the project, to become involved as a community-based organization already offering SA and IPV services to survivors, or as a survivor who needs support, please contact us at [email protected]
It’s My Choice is funded by:
We need your support
To continue providing the breadth of services to our clients and doing the important advocacy work, we need your support.
Please join us on our mission.