The Struggle for Justice for Battered Women: Still a Colossal Work in Progress,

I was struck by the enormity of the tasks and challenges at hand and spent much of the rest of the hike creating the mental lists of next steps in my head. [...] As happened here, as well as in other cases involving women in Canada and around the world,4 too often, the first time a more complete portrait of the woman and the circumstances of her life are made public is thanks to the work of investigative journalists. [...] Considering my knowledge of the details of Helen’s case and current circumstances, my 40 plus years of working in and around the criminal legal and penal systems, and my expertise with respect to these matters, it is without hesitation that I continue to support the exoneration of Helen Naslund. [...] The willingness of community advocates and legal scholars to speak out after the Naslund sentencing encouraged members of the public to express their views and offer support to and for Ms. [...] In the fall of 2023, we launched an eight-part podcast series of the same name (The Globe and Mail 2023), which gave us the time and space to look more in-depth into the legal aspects of Helen’s case, including the history of the use of Battered Woman Syndrome in support of self-defence in Canada.