Fourteen young women were senselessly murdered at École Polytechnique on December 6, 1989. As we take pause to reflect on the inequality and beliefs that caused this tragedy, we are reminded that violence continues to be a reality for far too many women and girls in our community and across Canada every day.

Not enough has been done on the issue of violence against women in Canada. We are reminded of this when, 26 years after those horrific acts in Montreal, three women in Wilno, Ontario, were targeted and murdered by their former partner, a man known to the police as being violent and who had been harassing his victims for some time.

The current response to violence against women in Canada has failed to lower the levels of violence, to adequately protect and educate the population.

On any given day, over 8200 women and children are living in emergency shelters and transition houses to escape intimate partner violence in Canada. Over 400,000 women and girls 15 years of age and older report they had been sexually assaulted annually. We know however that approximately 90% of all sexual assaults go unreported to police.

The United Nations called for all countries to implement a National Action Plan on Violence against Women by 2015. With the new government’s promise to implement a National Action Plan, CFUW Orangeville & District calls for this plan to be comprehensive, coordinated and meaningful: to be reached through consultations with women’s groups and Indigenous groups in particular.

Gender-based violence is something we can prevent and work towards eliminating in Canada. Won’t you join us in supporting local groups working towards this vision, and in calling for a National Action Plan?

Ingrid Sproxton, Jennifer Gohn
Presidents
Canadian Federation of University Women Orangeville