Book ~ "Women Who Woke up the Law: Inside the Cases that Changed Women's Rights in Canada" (2025) Karin Wells

From Goodreads ~ Behind every “landmark case” is a woman with a story.

Karin Wells pulls us into the lives and the legal trials of a group of women integral to the advancement of women’s rights in Canada. 

Eliza Campbell, Chantale Daigle, Jeannette Corbiere Lavell - these Women Who Woke Up the Law often had no idea what they were facing in the courts or the price they would have to pay. 

Some never saw justice themselves but they left a legal legacy. Their bold determination is something we need now more than ever to guard the hard-won gains in women’s rights.

This book is an exploration of 10 groundbreaking legal battles led by Canadian women that changed life for women and often, the law itself. It brings us behind the scenes of ten big legal battles led by everyday women who stood up to unfair systems and pushed for justice, even when the odds were totally against them:

1. Eliza Campbell (divorce law) - wrongly accused of adultery in the 1880s, she fought for her reputation and alimony and her struggles prompted early reforms in divorce rights
2. The Famous Five - in 1929, challenged the idea that only men were “persons” under the law and won
3. Florence Murdoch (property rights) - an Alberta ranch wife whose decades of labor went unrecognized until her fight brought attention to women's entitlement to shared property
4. Jane Doe (sexual assault ["No Means No"]) - in 1999, a consent ruling that defined clear boundaries around marital and extramarital sexual violence
5. Stella Bliss (maternity benefits) - her pursuit of unemployment insurance during maternity leave helped define equal treatment
6. Jeannette Corbiere Lavell and Indian Status Laws - she challenged the discrimination that stripped Indigenous women of their status when marrying non‑status men
7. Chantale Daigle (abortion rights) - in Quebec in the 1980s, she fought in court for her right to choose abortion
8. Jane Hurshman (domestic violence and homicide in self‑defense) - her killing of her abusive partner brought about legal protections for battered women
9. Viola Desmond and Rachael Baylis (racial justice) - these Black women’s legal battles brought attention to discrimination
10. NDAs and power - examines legal conflicts over non‑disclosure agreements and the right to one’s own narrative as it pertains to Jan Wong, Kaarina Pakka, Peter Nygård and others

I thought this topic would be interesting and it was. Some of these cases I'd heard of (like Jane Hurshman and Viola Desmond, for example) while others were new to me. I was expecting it to be dry and dull but it wasn't. There was just enough information and when/if I wanted more, I Googled. It's obvious the author did a great deal of research. It's an excellent book for women to read and thank those who came before us for all they did. As a head's up, there is swearing and descriptions of violence.