Bio:
Julie Lassonde is a research lawyer, translator, and performance artist. Fluent in English and French, she is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Barreau du Québec. She articled at Baker and McKenzie LLP, and in 2007, received an Innovative Electronic Theses and Dissertations Award for her interdisciplinary LL.M. thesis entitled Performing Law, completed at the University of Victoria (supervisors: Rebecca Johnson and Lucy Pullen, UVic; external: Marianne Constable, UC Berkeley). Her thesis, which combined the fields of law and performance art, was published in part in The International Journal of the Arts in Society. For the past five years, Ms. Lassonde has developed a consultancy business focusing on the areas of gender, sexuality, and social justice more generally. From 2008 to 2010, she also worked part-time as a research lawyer at the Law Commission of Ontario where she headed a family law project. Currently, her main focus is building the first Francophone women shelter in Toronto.
Lawyer, Researcher & Translator; Executive Director of the Maison d'hébergement pour femmes francophones
Title of paper:
'What does Feminism have to do with it? Why we need Feminism in Law: Where can being a feminist lawyer lead you?'
Abstract:
This paper outlines my experience of building the first Francophone women's shelter in Toronto, a project that I would have never imagined leading when I was called to the bar in 2005. This paper explores practical and non-traditionally feminine skills required to lead such a project. It will also examine intersectional feminist issues arising from creating an exclusively Francophone and women?s space in response to violence against women, including the inclusion of transgendered women.