DAWN-RAFH Canada

Maria Barile was one of the 17 women with disabilities who formed the DisAbled Women Network (DAWN) in Canada. She was the vice-chair of DAWN Canada from 1990-94 and acting Co-chair (2003-2006). She is also a found member of the Action Femme Handicapées. She graduated from McGill University in 1993 with a Master’s Degree in Social Work. She is active in various advocacy groups for people with disabilities and has been active in women’s organisations. She currently works as a research assistant for the Adaptech Project at Dawson College and a founding member of consulting company - AccessÉco-Accéss www.ecoaccess.info. She lectures on issues regarding disabilities, feminism and environmental and universal design.

Laurence Parent is a scholar and a community activist living in Montréal. She completed a Master degree in Critical Disability Studies at York University in Toronto. She recently founded an own advocacy group, the RAPLIQ, with Maria Barile, which aims to challenge ableism by using creative means. Her first short film Je me Souviens: Excluded from the Montréal Subway Since 1966 is inspired by her own lived experience in Montréal as a disabled woman. Je me souviens is about spatial segregation and resistance – two themes located at the heart of her work.