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September 3, 1998

STATUS OF WOMEN CANADA INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PAPERS PROVIDING GENDER PERSPECTIVE ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES

OTTAWA  -- Status of Women Canada (SWC) today announced the titles of 14 recently released, independent research papers that provide a gender perspective on a range of public policy issues, from access to justice to the restructuring of Canada's social programs. The papers were funded by SWC's Policy Research Fund.

The Policy Research Fund (PRF) supports independent, nationally relevant policy research which enhances public debate by providing a gender perspective. The structure and priorities of the PRF were formulated with input from extensive national consultations held by SWC in 1996.

The PRF responds to the growing need among advocates for women's equality, non-governmental organizations, policy analysts and government decision-makers for research which incorporates a gender analysis of urgent and emerging policy issues. The titles of the 14 research publications are:

• Finding Data on Women: A Guide to Major Sources at Statistics Canada
• Benefiting Canada's Children: Perspectives on Gender and Social Responsibility
• Women's Support, Women's Work: Child Care in an Era of Deficit Reduction, Devolution, Downsizing and Deregulation
• A Complex Web: Access to Justice for Abused Immigrant Women in New Brunswick
• Relocation of Custodial Parents
• Spousal Violence in Custody and Access Disputes: Recommendations for Reform
• Women and the CHST: A Profile of Women Receiving Social Assistance in 1994
• The Impact of Block Funding on Women with Disabilities
• Women and the Equality Deficit: The Impact of Restructuring Canada's Social Programs
• Who Will Be Responsible for Providing Care? The Impact of the Shift to Ambulatory Care and of Social Economy Policies on Québec Women
• Access to Justice for Sexual Harassment Victims: The Impact of Béliveau St-Jacques on Female Workers' Right to Damages
• Family Mediation in Canada: Implications for Women's Equality
• Aboriginal Women in Canada: Strategic Research Directions for Policy Development
• Gendering Immigration/Integration: Policy Research Workshop Proceedings and a Selective Review of Policy Research Literature 1987-1996

By expanding the body of knowledge about women and men, social and economic relationships, as well as growth and human development, the research papers provide all sectors of society with the information needed to develop policy options that effectively address social and economic challenges as they evolve.

Two of the papers, for example, responded to a call for proposals on spousal violence and mobility rights in custody and access disputes - two issues identified as urgent by the PRF's external committee and SWC's Research Directorate. Relocation of Custodial Parents and Spousal Violence in Custody and Access Disputes: Recommendations for Reform are timely additions to the federal government's present policy dialogue on custody and access issues.

The research papers express the views and opinions of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official policy or opinion of SWC or the Government of Canada. The independent, external committee, nominated by SWC's constituents, plays a determining role in selecting the issues to be studied, the projects to be funded, and in deciding which projects should be published.

The PRF's budget for fiscal year 1998/99 is $1.2 million. Reports from 13 new policy research projects will be released later this year, through to the year 2000. The themes are the integration of diversity into policy research, development and analysis; and the relationship between the changing role of the state, women's paid and unpaid work and women's vulnerability to poverty.

Research papers can be downloaded from our Web site or can be obtained, at no charge, from Status of Women Canada.