This March, federal court justice Robin Camp resigned after a 15-month inquiry. His conduct during the questioning of a 19-year-old woman during a rape trial included wildly inappropriate comments like “sex and pain sometimes go together.” During the inquiry, the woman said the experience left her with suicidal thoughts.

That same month, a Nova Scotia judge acquitted a taxi driver who was charged with sexual assault on the basis that his passenger, although heavily intoxicated, was capable of consent. Police had found the man with his pants unbuttoned and holding the woman’s urine-soaked underwear, while she lay unconscious and half-naked in the back of his cab.

Five years ago, I made the most vital and life-saving decision I’d ever made. I chose to break up a 14-year relationship with the father of my four children. The break up was a no-brainer, really. It should have happened years before it finally did; women in abusive relationships face many barriers to leaving.

I went from a strong, independent, self-reliant woman to being completely controlled by and dependent on someone else. It didn’t help that he was verbally abusive, both to me and my kids. When we actually did speak, his words were filled with sexual innuendos and/or insults, usually in front of the children.

“Young women are telling us loud and clear they’re worried about the future of gender equality in Canada,” says Paulette Senior, President and CEO of the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

She’s responding to the sobering findings of a new Canadian Women’s Foundation study that indicate 79 per cent of Canadians believe Gen Z women (those born after 1999) will be just as likely or even more likely to feel unsafe because of their gender.

The study asked participants whether they expect the next generation of women to experience various forms of violence: sexual assault, online harassment, physical violence from a partner, as well as sexual harassment in public or at work. In all of the categories, the majority said violence against women will either persist or get worse.

This is an updated version of a story originally published in the Spring 2016 issue of SHE magazine.

When Maya* left her abusive husband, she feared for her children’s safety. To protect them, she waived her financial and property rights in exchange for an agreement that her husband wouldn’t seek custody of the children. He later changed his mind and took her to court to demand access.

Maya couldn’t afford a lawyer, but didn’t qualify for legal aid. For guidance, she turned to the Jane Doe Legal Advice Clinic, a service that was delivered by West Coast LEAF (Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund) in Vancouver, BC.