Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
Dec 05, 2007
On Dec. 6, 1989, a deranged gunman entered L’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. After segregating the female students from the men, he began firing at the female engineering students.
On that day, 14 young women lost their lives to violence. The event became known as the Montreal Massacre and has become symbolic in the fight to end violence against women. In 1991, Canada’s Parliament declared December 6th a National Day of Mourning and the National Day to End Violence Against Women.
Cuts to Status of Women
“Sadly, our nation continues to struggle, if not stumble, in its efforts to eradicate violence against women and girls,” says James Clancy, NUPGE National President. “If we can not end the violence perpetrated against women in this country, we should at the very least ensure that we can provide protection and support to those who are struggling to escape the violence.”
Many transition houses and shelters that endeavor to provide this support were affected by the program cuts announced in 2006 by the Harper government to the Status of Women Canada, which included funding both directly and indirectly to these organizations.
As well the Harper government is attempting to silence the voices of women’s organizations that advocate and lobby for an end to violence against women by cutting their funding.
The National Union and its Components will continue to lobby the federal government to reinstate funding to the Status of Women Canada and the organizations it supports, as well as to return “equality” to its mandate.
Global Voice
The National Union and its Components are adding their voices to ITUC, PSI and other Global Union Federations in saying no to violence against women by participating in 16 Days of Action to End Violence Against Women. The campaign runs between November 25 – UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and December 10 – International Human Rights Day.
The 16 days of action focus on stopping violence against women and girls which is the most common but least punished crime in the world. In a statement released by the ITUC the union points out that:
• World wide, at least one in three women has been beaten or sexually abused in her lifetime.
• Globally, women aged between 15 and 44 are more likely to be maimed or die as a result of male violence than through cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war combined.
Let’s do everything we can to ensure that tragedies like that of December 6, 1989 are never repeated.
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