About us
The National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) is dedicated to advancing substantive equality for all women in Canada through law reform, particularly at the federal level. Since our founding in 1974, we have had a major role in achieving significant milestones for women’s rights. Our advocacy has impacted numerous laws and policies across the country.

National Association of Women and the Law
Since our founding at a conference held at the University of Windsor law school in 1974, the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) has worked on its own and in collaboration with others to advance feminist law reform in Canada. We’re proud to have had a major role in achieving significant milestones for Canadian women’s equality, and for our feminist legal analysis and advocacy to have impacted countless laws and policies across the country — most notably in relation to the Canadian Human Rights Act and Sections 15 and 28 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Today, we continue to write briefs and discussions papers and appear before Parliamentary and Senate committees, and meet with decision makers to influence the law making process on current and emerging feminist law reform priorities. Working with feminist lawyers, students, service providers, academics, activists and allies, we are (re)building a feminist law reform network and increasing the capacities of women to engage in the law making process.

Our History
Our Team

Tiffany Butler

Suzanne Zaccour

Thaïs Laborde

Amanda Therrien

Chelsea Giesel
Project Manager

Forest Malin

Fowziya Ali

Alice Méthot

Hannah Ahamedi

Carly Reichelt

Spencer C. Nault
Team Bios
Contact
Ottawa, ON K1Y 2N2
Canada
contact@nawl.ca
Media
For media inquiries, please email media@nawl.ca
Our National Steering Committee

Photo of our 2019/2020 National Steering Committee — back row from left to right: Lorena Sekwan Fontaine, Susana May Yon Lee, Lisa Cirillo and Zahra Taseer; front row left to right: Martha Jackman, Naomi Telford, Anne Levesque and Cheryl Milne. Absent: Sasha Hart.

Photo of our 1991/1993 National Steering Committee — from left to right: Kerry Burke, Diane Zwicker, Ann Martin, Suki Beavers, Maeve Baird, Sue Brown, Susan Vella, Roz Currie, Sandra Sellens, Joan Brockman. Absent: Barb Janzen. Photo courtesy of the University of Ottawa Archives and Special Collections Fonds 10-036.
Our Feminist Law Reform Working Groups
To ensure that NAWL remains connected to our three key priority areas, we established three Feminist Law Reform (FLR) Working Groups:
FLR & Reproductive Rights: Chair: Julia Tétrault-Provencher, Myriam Pigeon, Andrea Rodriguez, Jennifer Taylor
- FLR & Climate Crisis: Chair: Sabaa Khan, Lauren Marshall , Melanie Snow, Shi Tao Zhang, Angela Lee
- FLR & Violence Against Women: Chair: Lise Gotell, Jennifer Koshan, Janet Mosher, Zahra Taseer, Amanda Therrien




Kerri A. Froc is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick. She is also writing a book tentatively titled, “The Gendered Constitution.” It concerns gender equality in Canadian constitutional law. 
Elizabeth Johannson has a B.A. (Hons.) in Theatre and Drama and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CGA). This enables her to effortlessly dance between her left brain and right brain in analyzing and navigating the world. She is currently working as a full-time accountant and pursuing part-time graduate studies at the University of Alberta in Gender and Social Justice Studies.
Jennifer Khor (she/her) is supervising lawyer and project manager for 

Cheryl is the Executive Director of the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1987 and completed her M.S.W. at University of Toronto in 1991. She practised at the legal clinic Justice for Children and Youth from 1991 to 2008 where she appeared at all levels of court and various administrative tribunals on behalf of young people. There she also led the clinic’s Charter litigation including the challenge to the corporal punishment defence in the Criminal Code [Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law v. Canada (2004)], the striking down of the reverse onus sections of the Youth Criminal Justice Act for adult sentencing [R. v. D.B. (2008)], and an intervention involving the right of a capable adolescent to consent to her own medical treatment [A.C. v. Manitoba Child and Family Services (2009)].
Dr. Vrinda Narain (she/her) is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, McGill University. Professor Narain’s research and teaching focus on constitutional law, social diversity and feminist legal theory. She is the author of two books: 
Sarah Sinclair (she/her) is a member of Peguis First Nation, Treaty One, Manitoba, and was born and raised on Mohkinstis, Treaty 7. After attending law school at the University of British Columbia she was called in 2015 and spent her first 3 years as a lawyer in private practice at a boutique Aboriginal law firm. In 2019 Sarah was hired as the first lawyer for 