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| Abbreviation | LEAF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1985 |
| Founder | Susan Tanner |
| Type | Women's rights |
| Legal status | active |
| Purpose | advocate and public voice, educator and network |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Region served | Canada |
Official language | English, French |
| Website | leaf.ca |
Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, referred to by the acronym LEAF, is a women's rights organization based in Toronto, Canada.
Canadian Lawyer magazine describes LEAF as a "non-profit organization that works to advance gender equality and human rights through litigation, law reform, and education". [1] The founding chair of LEAF was Susan Tanner, [2] and author Judy Rebick wrote in her book Ten Thousand Roses: The Making of a Feminist Revolution that other founders had included both lawyers and non-lawyers, such as Nancy Ruth, Pat Hacker, Linda Ryan Nye, Kay Macpherson, Kay Sigurjonsson, and even former Chatelaine magazine editor Doris Anderson. [3]
In 1991 Sherene Razack wrote the book Canadian Feminism and the Law: The Women's Legal Education and Action Fund and the Pursuit of Equality just a half decade after the creation of LEAF. [4] A book by Peter Manfredi was later written on the various results of the advocacy pursued by LEAF entitled Feminist Activism in the Supreme Court: Legal Mobilization and the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund. [5]