By Rachelle Walker, Executive Director of Muskoka Women’s Advocacy Group
December 6 marks the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre in 1989, during which 14 women were murdered simply because they were women. Since that time, it has become a day where the issue of violence against women, more generally, is highlighted and receives a great deal of public focus as groups throughout Canada mark the day in a variety of ways.
Globally, violence against women is the largest and most pervasive human rights violation, and Canada is no exception. It is estimated that over 50 per cent of Canadian women will experience an incident of violence at some point in their lives. For the majority of women, this will happen before they turn 25. In most cases, women know their abuser.
Violence against women is a societal problem that is strongly rooted in a worldview that places men in positions of power and women as second-class citizens. It’s common for boys to learn at an early age that part of being a man means to exert some form of power and domination over women. Sometimes these messages are quite blatant, but often they’re very subtle. This messaging also means boys and men are discouraged from experiencing or showing certain emotions, which includes emotions that strengthen capacity to be caring and nurturing. This rigid type of thinking impacts both women and men negatively.
The facts and information below come from a variety of sources including canadianwomen.org, ywcacanada.ca and the Ontario Women’s Directorate.
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.
- Canada’s Indigenous women are at an incredibly high risk of experiencing violence. The devastating count of missing and murdered Indigenous women points to a deep-seated gendered and racialized violence in our culture.
- Violence against women costs over $4 billion per year including direct medical costs along with those of criminal justice, social services, and lost productivity.
- Almost 40 per cent 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.
- Women often stay because the abuser has threatened to kill them if they leave, or to kill himself, or to kill the children.
- Women are at the highest risk of lethal violence when they first leave their abusive partners.
- About 25 per cent of all women who are murdered by their spouse had left the relationship. In one study, half of the murdered women were killed within two months of leaving the relationship.
- Exposure to violence can affect children’s brain development and ability to learn, and lead to a wide range of behavioural and emotional issues such as anxiety, aggression, bullying, phobias, and insomnia.
- About half (49 per cent) of all female murder victims in Canada are killed by a former or current intimate partner. In contrast, only 7 per cent of male murder victims were killed by intimate partners.
- According to police, men (49 per cent) and women (51 per cent) in Canada are equally at risk of violent victimization. However, men are much more likely to be assaulted by a stranger or someone from outside their family, while women are much more likely to be assaulted by someone they know.
Because violence against women is based in inequality, ending it depends on equality for women and a sharing of power with women. It requires that we remember the lives of all women who have experienced violence. It also requires us, both women and men, to work toward change.
Muskoka – Parry Sound Sexual Assault Services, YWCA Muskoka and the Muskoka Women’s Advocacy Group invite you to join us at Sutherland Hall (30 High Street) in Huntsville on Tuesday, December 6 from 5pm-7pm when we will gather to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
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