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Every year
I take a little longer to build up to December 6th. I think about the
women who were killed in Montreal on December 6th. I think about the women
who were killed in Port Coquitlam. I think about the women who have probably
been killed up on Highway 16. And I think about the women I meet right
here in Kamloops, and I wonder which one of them will be next.
But what most often troubles my heart is how we rarely hear the questions
raised about why these things happen to women, or any thoughts on why
these things are always happening to women.
Maybe some people are just scared to raise the issues, because then others
might think they’re being “political.”
Well, violence against women is political.
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against
Women says that “violence against women is a manifestation of historically
unequal power relations between men and women which have led to domination
over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of
the full advancement of women.....violence against women is one of the
crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate
position compared with men.”
This and other International Human Rights Treaties set out a series of
steps that governments must take to eliminate violence against women.
Canada not only signed these Treaties, we initiated the Violence Against
Women Treaty.
After 9/11, everybody said “it’s a different world now.”
But for me, there is another date to think about. January 17th, 2002 –
Black Thursday.
When I think of the place I was standing in this time last year, and the
world we live in now, I realize that it’s the world after January
17th that is different for women in BC.
It was January 17th, Black Thursday, when we saw the first real indication
that the Government of BC was not interested in ending violence against
women. On that day, and ever since, the Government of BC has been relentless
in its cuts to programs and services for women.
Cuts to support services for women in BC are putting women at increased
risk of violence. BC Government cuts to social programs are creating barriers
for women fleeing from abusive partners, and the protections that women
used to have are rapidly disappearing.
In fact, since January 17th, the Government of BC has been engaged in
nothing less than the systematic dismantling of women’s Human Rights
in BC.
The worst violation has been both the code of silence practised by members
of our Legislature in BC, and the intimidation tactics and fear-mongering
perpetrated against those who might otherwise be moved to speak out.
This is called state violence.
In fact, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women has said
that: “A State which tolerates violence against women within families
or communities, and which does not take effective measures to prevent
this violence, or hold accountable those who are responsible for the violence,
are as guilty as the individual perpetrators.”
Women’s organizations and individual feminists have always pushed
the envelope in BC. We’ve been really unpopular out there, because
we do dare to raise the issues of gender-based violence. Because we refuse
to hide violence against women in the language of gender-neutrality. Because
we continue to insist that gender-based violence is unacceptable.
We maintain that we can’t just practice intervention and expect abusive
men to stop being violent towards women. We demand that our systems be
held accountable for allowing violence against women to flourish.
We have made some progress. But it’s not enough. We cannot permit
anyone to destroy the gains women have made. We must persist in standing
up against the systems that would otherwise allow another woman’s
murder to take place. We are obliged to continue pushing that envelope,
until we have eradicated violence against women.
It is our Right — our Human Right — to live without violence.
December 6th is a day of mourning, but it’s also a day of action.
We must be moved into action, not for ourselves, but for our sisters who
cannot be here today. Our sisters who can’t be here because they’ve
been murdered. Our sisters who aren’t standing beside us, because
it’s not safe for them to be here. Our sisters who aren’t here
because they’re experiencing violence right now.
On this December 6th, let's all go away thinking about actions we can
take to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and
girls.
On December 6th, let’s remember to first mourn, then work for change.
Read the Status of Women Action Group media
release dd Dec 5, 2002 Victoria
Status of Women Refuses to Participate in Cruel Farce by BC Liberal's
Own Marie Antoinette Victoria
source: BC Coalition of Women's Centres www.bcwomen.cjb.net
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