December 6 – We Remember: National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Twenty-six years ago, 14 young women were murdered at l’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. They were killed simply because they were women.

On December 6th of every year, which now marks the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, we commemorate the lives of these women and reflect on the acts of violence against women that still occur in our society today. We take time to not only remember the women who died on this day, but to re-commit ourselves to taking action on violence against women and girls until Canada is a safe country for women.

According to the Rose Campaign, “more than 50 per cent of Canadian women will experience an incident of violence at some point in their lives, the majority before they turn 25. In most cases, women know their abuser.”

In Canada:

• Women are more likely than men to be the victims of the most severe forms of intimate partner abuse, including spousal homicide, sexual assault and stalking.
• Young women experience the highest rates of violence and the rate of violence by boyfriends is on the rise.
• Almost 40% of women in Canada who reported assault by an intimate partner said their children witnessed the violence and in many cases the violence was severe.
• In half of the cases of intimate partner violence against women that were witnessed by children, the woman feared for her life.
• The devastating count of missing and murdered Aboriginal women points to a deep-seated gendered and racialized violence in our culture.

This is simply unacceptable.

The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women is an opportunity for us to think about women and girls who confront violence every day, to remember those who have died as a result of gender-based acts of violence, and to build our collective resolve to eradicate violence against women.

Events in Nova Scotia for National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women:

Show your solidarity and support the National Day of Action and Remembrance on Violence Against Women Vigil, Tuesday December 6th at 6 pm, at the Halifax Central Library.

Click here for Facebook event