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Press Release on Gun Control |
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Effective Gun Control Legislation Needed to Protect Women from Violence The Canadian
Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), the
National Association of Women
and the LAW (NAWL), the DisAbled Women's
Network Ontario (DAWN Ontario), the Canadian
Federation of University Women (CFUW), and the St.
John’s Status of Women Council would like to remind the people
of this country that violence against women and children persists despite
years of attention to the problem. Canadians should not lose sight of
the fact, despite the recent controversy over the gun registry budget,
and issues of confidentiality, that the intention of gun registry was
to "Murder, battering, and sexual assault against girls and women of all ages are sadly not diminishing, " said Dr. Elly Silverman, President of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. "We need to continue to understand individual causes of violence, certainly, but more importantly our culture needs to re-think itself as a truly egalitarian, non-violent society." She called on governments to take the lead in creating economic equality and safe housing as fundamental necessities for women's safety. "Governments also need to offer more support to the front-line workers in shelters and safe houses, to organizations which offer support to abused women, and to criminal justice reform. Abuse, violence, and murder are not merely individual but social and economic problems." Women's groups can be called upon to participate in ways to make gun control legislation more effective. They support initiatives which will save the lives of women and children. -30- For further information,
contact Sara Torres,
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Page last updated January 22, 2003 |
