Battered Women’s Support Services Marks National Day Of Remembrance And Action On Violence Against Women
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
December 4, 2015
BATTERED WOMEN’S SUPPPORT SERVICES MARKS NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE AND ACTION ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Twenty-six years after the École Polytechnique Massacre in Montreal, little has changed when it comes to the “war on women”.
“While violence against women is not inevitable it continues to persist.” Said Angela Marie MacDougall, BWSS Executive Director. “We have seen some changes, however the reality remains that every six days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner, So far in 2015, 16 women have been murdered in British Columbia, 37 in the province of Ontario, and 138 in Canada overall at the hands of male violence. We continue to see mass murders, murders of domestic violence victims, and Indigenous women.
The social imbalances are entrenched in our society, intimate partner violence, sexual harassment, rape culture on campus, and generalized violence against women is as endemic as ever.
Awareness is not enough to create the change needed; we need to have a national strategy to prevent violence against women and to ensure services are available for survivors of gender violence.
“Since the Montreal Massacre, over 1,200 Indigenous girls and women have gone missing or have been found murdered in Canada. This is caused by a history of violence beginning with colonization and continuing through with systemic discrimination”, says Brandy Kane, BWSS Manager, Indigenous Women’s Programs, “Although this violence is more visible by mainstream Canadian society, systemic changes have yet to be seen”.
To commemorate this year’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on December 6th, BWSS affirms our connection with women’s groups around the province and all over Canada in solidarity and in action, participating in roundtables and critical discussions to further the vital action that needs to be taken to create social change.
We recognize that the onus and responsibility for social change cannot only fall on women’s groups , participants at all levels need to have serious conversation leading to a plan of action to end violence against girls and women.
Local Events:
Thursday, December 3, 12pm-1pm: SFU Women’s Center- Film and Memorial to the Victims of the Montreal Massacre
Thursday, December 3, 12pm-1:30pm: UBC, AMS Sexual Assault Support Centre – Mass shootings, Masculinity, and Misogyny: 26 Years After Ecole Polytechnique What’s Changed?”
Thursday, December 3, 7pm- 9pm: WAVAW – Feminist Understandings of Violence Against Women. VCC Staff Lounge
Saturday, December 5th, 10am-6pm: Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter– Films, lectures and roundtables Vancouver Public Library Central Branch
Media enquiries
Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director, Battered Women’s Support Services
Tel. (604) 808 0507 E-mail: director@bwss.org
