“Too often, family court processes retraumatize or inflict further harm upon survivors of intimate partner violence, worsening their isolation and stress.… The Safe Supports Project provides crucial assistance at some of the most difficult times of people’s lives,” Attorney General Niki Sharma said in an April 27 news release.
Sharma said these issues are especially pressing in rural and remote areas, which face higher rates of intimate partner violence and are underserved by the legal system.
The Safe Supports Project was launched in 2022 and provides legal and non-legal assistance to survivors of domestic abuse before, during and after court proceedings.
The program operates in provincial courts in the Robson Valley, Dawson Creek and the Smithers/Hazelton area and was initially funded through the federal Justice Partnership and Innovation Program.
The program was set to end in March 2026. However, B.C. announced it had secured additional provincial funding to extend the project until March 2028 while it continues to explore alternate funding for further extension and expansion.
Between March 2024 and March 2025, the program supported 160 survivors and handled about 750 requests for family-law-related assistance, including parenting arrangements, and child support and protection orders, according to the release.
The project also made more than 400 referrals to legal services and over 300 referrals to non-legal supports such as counselling, housing and health services during this period.
The release noted that survivors who used the project reported that support workers helped them develop safety plans, obtain protection orders and better understand their legal options.
“The Safe Supports program fills a considerable gap in the supports available to survivors. It is one of the positive, promising and necessary actions that the province has taken to improve legal responses and support services for intimate partner violence and sexual violence in British Columbia,” said lawyer Kim Stanton, who led an independent review of how B.C.’s legal system treats victims and survivors of such violence.
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