Editor's note: The groups behind the following release include Athena’s Sexual Assault Counselling & Advocacy Centre, La Maison Rosewood Shelter, and Choices for Children Choix pour enfants. As part of their call for action to end gender-based violence, they are asking people to tune in to their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts at 11 a.m. this morning for a virtual vigil.
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NEWS RELEASE
HURONIA TRANSITION HOMES
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Thirty-two years ago, at l’École Polytechnique in Montreal, 14 women were senselessly murdered due to sexism, misogyny, and anti-feminist sentiment.
Dec. 6 now marks the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. On this day, we reflect upon the lives of the women murdered in the Montreal Massacre and honour the lives of the 41 women and two children who have been murdered this year in Ontario.
This day serves as a sad and heartbreaking reminder that acts of violence committed against women are not isolated incidents; rather, they are entrenched values upheld by our institutions which uphold men’s power at the expense of women’s bodies, women’s safety, women’s choices, women’s freedom, and women’s lives.
The women who we honour today were murdered by their husbands, their boyfriends, their father’s, their sons, and their grandsons. It is within these relationships that women are continuously harassed, harmed, terrorized, and murdered by men who choose to be abusive. Forty-one women and two children were denied their human rights, denied peace.
We should know their names. We should be outraged. We should act.
We live in a society that accepts, excuses, is entertained by and condones men’s violence against women. A society that normalizes violence. Men’s violence is a predictable part of women’s lives and women’s existence. Systemic racism, sexism, classism, ableism, transphobia, and homophobia create a climate for such violence to continue and impacts how women are treated and responded to.
If we are not actively interrupting and ending all violence, we are complacent in perpetuating violence. We are all responsible for the eradication of violence against women.
We are currently witnessing a disturbing increase of violence against women during the pandemic. There has been an 84 per cent increase in femicides across Canada and globally the news is even worse. While remaining within one’s home as much as possible is the primary advice to deal with the current public health crisis, the most common location of violence and death for women experiencing intimate partner violence is within the home.
While it is reported that 1,200 Indigenous women and girls in Canada have been murdered or are currently missing, it was acknowledged earlier this year by the federal government that this number is closer to 4,000. Their stories do not make the news, for if they did, it would be the only news.
In 2019, the Inquiry into MMIWG released their final report and 213 recommendations and calls to action — but little action has been done.
And so, first we mourn, but mourning is not enough. Our sorrow won’t save lives, action will save lives. Femicide and violence against women do not exist in a vacuum. Misogyny and sexism fuel male privilege and male dominance, they erode women’s equality and mobility. Stopping sexism and rape culture are key steps toward valuing women and eliminating violence against them. Invest in women.
Begin today. Hold colonial and patriarchal institutions accountable for the violence they condone and perpetuate. Hold each other accountable to act with respect.
Let’s get honest and acknowledge the toll and carnage of men’s violence against women. Demand change, work for change.
As a community, we can do better. Women deserve better. Commit to Truth and Reconciliation. Demand that action be taken on all 94 recommendations.
When Indigenous leadership is at the forefront, a path towards prosperity, freedom, and peace is created. For now, more than ever, this is the future we so desperately need and deserve.
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