My dream is for a world where no one ever has to stay in a job or relationship or place that is harming them, due to the financial barriers to leaving.
I choose to actively work to contribute to the full manifestation of that dream because I know what it is like to not be able to leave a relationship that I knew I needed to leave and I know what it cost me to stay.
I have a diploma specializing in accounting and I’ve worked in many aspects of the financial industry since graduating in 2009, specializing in personal and small business income tax for more than a decade of that time.
That work, coupled with the hundreds of heart-breaking stories I’ve heard while doing that work – is why I know it isn’t just me and it isn’t just about personal knowledge – it is systemic. It is a rigged game – especially for women; especially for individuals with disabilities; and especially for mothers. I happen to fit all three of those ‘risk factors for poverty.’
While it feels nice to believe that everyone has an equal opportunity to earn and therefore provide for themselves, I know this isn’t reality. I have seen the data and heard the stories and lived it myself. Being a mother who does the majority of the parenting in a ‘partnership’ negatively impacted my ability to earn. Navigating physical health issues did too. These are simply facts. Uncomfortable facts. Ones that can often get lost under the weight of trying to provide for myself and my two children in the face of those barriers.
I know what it’s like to finally be financially independent enough to feel that I could leave and to then have that independence completely undermined via my bitter ex-husband’s abuse of the family court process.
Leaving Shouldn’t be This Hard
I wrote an article called “Paying That Bitch” because I was tired of misinformation that painted me as a villain for trying to get what I was legally owed to support my children after separating. It maps out the many ways child support gets weaponized as a continuing form of abuse – and the mechanics behind each one – using my own six years in family court as the throughline.
The article also includes some sobering statistics that show just how common what happened to me actually is, and it explains how it’s Canadian taxpayers, not just the parents involved, who end up covering the cost when support like this goes unpaid. To say the system is failing is an understatement. This is why I do the advocacy work I do now – to try and fix those systems.
It’s also why I am so passionate about helping others create financial independence and confidence for themselves. I know exactly what it’s like to live with tremendous financial strain from things outside my immediate control. I also know what it’s like to build a beautiful life anyway – in spite of all that injustice.
Economic Justice
“Economic justice aims to create opportunities for every person to have a dignified, productive, and creative life that extends beyond simple economics.” – Wikipedia
This work sort of found me — but it couldn’t have been more perfectly matched to where I imagined I might go career-wise.
Shortly after I had to pause my tax business to deal with worsening health issues in the Fall of 2025, a friend sent me a link to an application for the National Survivors Council with the CCFWE.
I actually laughed out loud when I read the link, because it lined up so completely with my own experiences, direction, and expertise that it felt less like an opportunity and more like something I dreamed into reality.
I knew I’d be advocating for change in the family court system specifically. I knew I’d be sharing information to help people who are where I was. I knew I’d be raising awareness about the specific barriers to economic justice that exist during relationship breakdowns. How exactly those things looked was the part that left me scratching my head and regularly overwhelmed, though. I had lots of ideas, but they all required more capacity than I could give.
Knowing what needs to change is one thing. Knowing how to go about actually affecting that desired change and closing gaps in legal policy is entirely another.
The Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment (CCFWE) is Canada’s leading organization dedicated to advancing economic safety, financial inclusion, and justice for survivors affected by economic abuse, coerced debt, fraud, and financial exploitation, in Canada and beyond. I really don’t know if there could be an organization that is more in alignment with what I hope to do.
Code of Conduct on the Prevention of Economic Abuse
- Survivor Roundtable Participant
Before the National Survivors Council even began, I was offered another incredible opportunity with CCFWE. One of the things that they do is advocate for survivor’s voices to be included in the development of policies that impact them.
As part of their ongoing work with Federal Government on the development of a new voluntary Code of Conduct on the Prevention of Economic Abuse, CCFWE facilitated a roundtable discussion, where myself and several other economic abuse survivors got to speak directly to those involved in creating this policy. This Code of Conduct will influence how financial institutions in Canada identify, respond to, and help prevent economic abuse.
While there are many people, organizations, and government departments involved in this Code of Conduct, knowing that I got to put my perspectives and suggestions in the pot was absolutely incredible.
My divorce story came with some real moments of hopelessness in the face of economic abuse. Getting to contribute in this way on a policy of this scale felt like the exact opposite of helpless.
National Survivor Council
- Current Member
The work with this council is really only getting started and it is already so much more than I could have hoped for. It’s a community of women who have lived through experiences similar to mine. That sense of understanding alone has been beautiful in a way I didn’t expect.
I also think that the CCFWE is the most trauma-informed organization I’ve ever encountered and I’ve learned so much already about how to do this work in a productive and self-protective manner. Getting to share ideas and space with people who are so committed to a cause that is so dear to me, is truly a gift. I can’t wait to see where this whole advocacy journey goes!
Dawn Evans 