A Canadian woman who says she was physically and sexually abused in three different foster homes is suing the provincial government — but her case is hung up on a slow release of documents.

Identified as Jane Doe No. 11, the 40-year-old woman says she suffered the abuse in Labrador and on the west coast of Newfoundland (Canada).

Her lawyer, Lynn Moore, is no stranger to these cases — and no stranger to the delays in retrieving the records of other Jane and John Does who have spent time in the province's care.

"Why do they have to wait for this long period of time? It is ridiculous in this day and age," she told reporters on Tuesday.

Moore filed her lawsuit July 27, alleging Jane Doe was first subjected to vicious abuse at the hands of a woman in Labrador. Different homes, same stories.

"The [first] home was one of cruelty and horror," it reads. "She starved, beat and berated the plaintiff."

Moore says Jane Doe was forced to watch as the foster mother battered the other children. She says the children were also forced to perform sexual acts on each other.

Jane Doe says after she was removed from that home, she was placed in a temporary home, where she also suffered sexual abuse. When she reported it to a social worker, she said she was moved back to the home where she was first abused.

bangs head on table

According to the lawsuit, things came to a head when Jane Doe saw the foster mother throw one of the other children into a tub of scalding hot water. Jane Doe later testified in a criminal proceeding involving the woman.

After that, Jane Doe said she was moved to western Newfoundland, where she was again sexually abused by her foster father.

"The plaintiff reported the sexual batteries to her social worker," the statement of claim reads. "The social worker did not take any action."

After telling her foster mother about the attacks, Jane Doe said she was moved to a temporary home. According to the lawsuit, she eventually landed back in the care of the abusive father again.

In a statement of defence filed Oct. 3, lawyers for the provincial government denied all the claims and asked Moore to back them up with factual evidence.

Oh great. Not.

Despite the denials, the province had not found Jane Doe's records at the time it filed its defence.

I'm sure that's just a coincidence.... /s

The filing stated they'd be asking for time to come up with a thorough defence once they review her records.

Moore said she can't back up the claims with factual evidence until the province hands over Jane Doe's files.

Court rules state all documents related to a lawsuit must be handed over to the plaintiff no more than 10 days after a statement of defence is filed. That date has already passed.

On Tuesday, Moore filed an application to order the government to hand over the documents by the end of October. Don Anthony, a lawyer for the Department of Justice and Public Safety, says the government will turn over the documents in a responsible fashion — but not by the end of October.

In 'a responsible fashion'? LOL

[He] said they could hand them over by the end of November.

"It's a matter, frankly, of making sure we do the job properly," Anthony told CBC News. "There are, I expect, too many documents to go through and produce in that time frame."

For five years, Moore has represented victims of abuse in the province's care.

With each case, she's grown more frustrated at the time it takes to produce the historical records of children in care. An access to information request shows an average wait time of 502 days for a person to access their personal records from the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development.

People seeking their own information must file an access to information request — despite child welfare issues falling outside the Canadian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Anything covered by the act must be returned within 30 days of a request being made. Child welfare issues don't have a mandatory time limit.

Moore said those delays can hurt people's chances of suing the government for compensation.

"These people want to know what happened to them as children. They want to know what the government did for them. And some of those people want to know if they have a case," she said.

"And for some of them, maybe time periods are elapsing. There are time limitation issues. Someone could actually be denied a right for compensation because the government decides to sit on documents. It's completely unfair."

Moore said the government is underfunded when it comes to records management staff.

"Government has money for what they deem important," she said. "To my eyes, it looks like they do not deem people who have been in the system as important enough."

CBC News contacted the Department of Justice and Public Safety for a response. That request was transferred to the Department of Children, Seniors and Social Development late on Tuesday.