|
FREE TRADE The Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women has published a series of background papers: Free Trade and Canadian Women: An Opportunity for a Better Future by Katie MacMillan; Impact of Free Trade on Women in Manufacturing by Ann Porter and Barbara Cameron; Free Trade in Services: An Issue of Concern to Women by Marjorie Griffin Cohen. Order from the council at P.O. Box 1541, Station B, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5R5. Telephone (613) 992-4975 FREE TRADE AND THE FUTURE OF WOMEN'S WORK by Marjorie Cohen is a joint publication of The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Garamond Press. Read it for an understanding of the effect free trade will have on the manufacturing and service sectors and on women's work in particular. Contact Garamond Press, 67A Portland Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2M9. Moodie Collection Finds New Home A rare literary and artistic find unearthed in the attic of a rural New York State home is now housed at the National Library of Canada. Final details of the agreement to purchase the historically valuable collection of manuscripts, letters, books and sketches of literary pioneer, Susanna Moodie, should be completed this month, according to Claude Le Moine, curator of library manuscript collections. The value of the extraordinary discovery will be impossible to determine until scholars have had a chance to assess the collection, he said. THE CANADIAN ADVISORY COUNCIL ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN "The Council is pleased that the government issued guidelines directing the police and the RCMP to lay charges in all family violence situations," said CACSW President Sylvia Gold, in releasing Personal Autonomy and the Criminal Law: Emerging Issues for Women. "However, the paper points out that these directives are not being uniformly applied across Canada. The paper suggests that society will only recognize that wife-battering is a crime when strong legislative measures are introduced and enforced by the police, crown attorneys, court officials and judges in every community." The paper addresses whether and to what extent the law should recognize criminal law defenses that are unique to women. "Battered Women Syndrome, which is used to explain the feeling of helplessness that many women feel, is not yet recognized as a defiance on its own." said Gold. "A possible legislative amendment to the Criminal Code could be a new, gender-neutral defiance of self-preservation." Another emerging criminal law issue that touches women is in the area of sexual assault. "Many women who survive a sexual assault experience physical and psychological reactions described as rape trauma syndrome, which is characterized by lasting, intense fear, anxiety and depression." said Gold. "The criminal justice system has been slow to recognize this disorder and introduce changes that will encourage women to give evidence in court." The paper stresses that the legal system must address these emerging issues in a way which recognizes women's experiences and realities. "For that reason, we examine four theories of equality that could be used to guide the development of policies on women's justice issues," said Gold. "In arriving at a definition of equality, the Council will continue to stress that women's voices be heard and that policies and programs be designed to reflect their experience." The Council, established in 1973 in response to a recommendation by the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, is an independent organization funded by the federal government. The council's mandate is to bring before the government and public, matters of interest and concern to women in Canada. Contact Anne Marie Smart, Director, Public Affairs, (613) 992-6907 Computers in Adult Education and Training This new journal will provide a forum for report and debate in the many issues in adult education and training in all aspects of new information technology and the use of computers as tools in adult learning. It will contain articles, reports of good practice, notes of work in progress, reviews of books and software conference notices. CAET Department of Adult and Continuing Education University of
Keele |
| Back | Contents | Next |