Glossary - Abuse and Family Violence

In Child abuse and neglect, Domestic violence, Family Law

Access used to mean the time a parent spends with a child they usually don’t live with. For most family law cases, the term “access” has changed to parenting time. Now, all parents usually have parenting time. If you have a child protection case, the term access may still be used.

Parenting time or access can be on a strict schedule, such as every other weekend, or on a flexible schedule. In some cases, it might be supervised, which means someone else, like a Children’s Aid Society worker or relative, watches the visit.

A person who has parenting time or access usually also has the right to information about the child’s well-being, such as information about their health and education.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Elder abuse, Human Rights, Types of discrimination, Age

Ageism refers to negative attitudes and stereotypes of people who are older, and discrimination against people because of their age.

For example, it’s ageism if:

• an employer does not hire someone because the person is older and the employer thinks the person has less value than a younger worker
• a health-care practitioner talks to an older adult’s family member or caregiver when the person is mentally capable of deciding about their own treatment

In Abuse and Family Violence, Family Law, Tribunals and Courts

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) or family dispute resolution processes refers to different ways or processes that try to get people to agree on their legal issues without going to court. Some of these processes are collaborative family law, mediation, and arbitration.

In Abuse and Family Violence, Criminal Law

This is a formal document used to begin a proceeding in court. An information can be used to accuse a person of a criminal offence or to ask for a hearing for a peace bond.

In a criminal proceeding, the information is usually sworn by a police officer who has reasonable and probable grounds to believe the person committed a criminal offence.

In a non-criminal proceeding, a private citizen usually swears an information to ask for a peace bond against someone they have a reasonable fear of.  Private citizens can also swear informations for criminal offences.