A local advocate took a one-woman protest to the steps of Confederation Building in St. John’s yesterday to call on government to do more to stop gendered-based violence.
Orla Hegarty of Voices Against Violence is calling for legislative changes to protect women in the court system.
She cites a case in Ontario in which an attempted murder charge was stayed, due to staffing shortages and court backlogs.
“Things have to change as women are still being murdered. So why is that not working? Our justice system really needs to address these loopholes and do some preventative work,” says Hegarty.