Violent Crimes Against Women Persist, as Nation Marks National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada
Jennifer Y. Thornhill
Violence against women is a persistent and ongoing problem in Canada and around the world. It affects women’s social and economic equality, physical and mental health, well-being and economic security.
(Statistics Canada, 2006, 7)
One need only look to the news media to see that violent crimes against women persist in this country and elsewhere. Take this November headline, “Man charged with making pair of indecent phone calls,” for example (The Telegram (St. John’s), November 24, 2006, A3). Or how about this excerpt, “An Alberta man who attacked several women, scalping one of them, has been declared a dangerous offender” (The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax), November 16, 2006, A6). In the same report, the reporter writes, “Another girlfriend said he threatened to cut off her head and mail it to her family.”
Internationally the problem also endures with headlines like “British court jails man for 15 months for insulting Muslim woman” and “Human trafficking getting worse, Vatican official says” (The Western Star (Corner Brook), November 24, 2006, 8; The Telegram (St. John’s), November 15, 2006, B8, respectively). And who can soon forget the latest news about O.J. Simpson’s proposed tell-all book—that thankfully went belly up—about how “he ‘would’ have killed his wife,” Nicole Brown Simpson (The Guardian (Charlottetown), November 16, 2006, B7).
It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) this kind of news is repulsive. No one—women and men included—should have to live in fear of violence.
In a 2006 Statistics Canada report, “Measuring violence against women,” Holly Johnson writes, “All women have the right to live in safe communities, free of violence and the threat of violence. . . . [V]iolence against anyone is unacceptable whether it is directed against children, women, men, seniors, people with disabilities, visible minorities or anyone else” (Statistics Canada, 2006, 12).
This right to safety, without the threat of violence, is exactly what the December 6 National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada is all about. The Parliament of Canada established this day in 1991, marking the anniversary of the 1989 murders of 14 women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal. The Status of Women Canada (2006) says simply “[t]hey died because they were women” (¶ 1). However, news reports tell the detailed story of how gunman Marc Lepine single-handedly murdered the young, female engineering students.
On December 6, the Status of Women Canada—“the federal government agency which promotes gender equality and the full participation of women in the economic, social, cultural, and political life of the country”—invites Canadians to reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society (Status of Women Canada, 2006, ¶ 2). The agency also says December 6th is:
an opportunity to consider the women and girls for whom violence is a daily reality, and to remember those who have died as a result of gender-based violence. And finally, it is a day on which communities can consider concrete actions to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.
(Status of Women Canada, 2006, ¶ 2).
There are various kinds of violence against women. In the United Nations’ “Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993),” violence against women is defined as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life” (Article 1).
When it comes to severe forms of spousal assault, spousal homicide, sexual assault, and stalking, Statistics Canada (2006) finds that “women are more likely than men to be the victims” (2006, 13). And, of these women, young women experience the highest rates of violence. With that said, the rates of such homicide and non-lethal assaults against women have decreased in recent years (Statistics Canada, 2006). According to police reports, rates of reported sexual assaults have also declined, while reports of violence perpetrated by boyfriends and criminal harassment by male partners have increased. Fortunately, the number of shelters for abused women and their children has also increased. In addition, there are over 600 services for victims of crime operational in this country.
On December 6, the nation will remember the women of l'École Polytechnique, as well as the women and girls for whom violence is a daily reality.
For More Information:
CBC Archives. (2006). The Montreal Massacre.
Statistics Canada. (2006). Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends.
Status of Women Canada. (2006). Commemorative Dates - National Day Of Remembrance And Action On Violence Against Women.
Other articles by Jennifer:
- Communication expert takes messaging into her own hands: A new health magazine accentuates the positive (August 2006)
- A New Kind of Travel: When Medical Treatments are Paired with Resort Getaways (June 2006)
- Seeing Newfoundland through the eyes (and lens) of a beachcomber: A photojournalism story (June 2006)
- Identifying a Need for Greater Protection of Human Research Participants in Clinical Drug Trials (April 2006)
