Fourteen red roses were placed in a vase during the ceremony in memory of the 14 women killed by a gunman at Montreal’s École Polytechnique on Dec. 6, 19789: Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michele Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte. “They were loved ones who were taken from this world far too soon,” said Jocelyn Pitcher of the Sexual Assault Centre for Quinte and District. Photo by Victoria Caminha, QNet News
BELLEVILLE – The 14 young women who were killed at the École Polytechnique in Montréal on Dec. 6, 1989, were remembered by Belleville-area women at a ceremony Tuesday, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada.
“I think for us it’s about remembering that in 1989, 14 women were murdered based on the fact that they were solely women,” said Amy Dufresne of the Three Oaks Foundation, one of the organizers of the event at the Core Centre in downtown Belleville.
For the past 20 years, Three Oaks, the Sexual Assault Centre for Quinte and District, and the Community Advocacy and Legal Centre have got together to organize the commemoration and to invite the community to participate and remember those whose lives were lost.
“It’s important because sometimes we think we’ve come a very long way in terms of gender-based violence,” Dufresne said, but every year when data is released on women killed in Ontario, “people actually realize that we haven’t.
“We’ve made strides in certain areas, but there’s still a large number of women who experience gender-based violence and whose lives are taken at the hands of that.”
The two dozen or so women at Tuesday’s ceremony were told that gender-based violence affects all types of women of various ages and walks of life. Most women have feared for their safety at some point in their lives, Jocelyn Pitcher of the Sexual Assault Centre said.
“Indigenous, black, and racialized women are overrepresented, with the impacts of colonization and racial and ethnic violence,” Pitcher said.
In its latest annual report on the number of femicides in the province, the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses, says that between November 2021 and November 2022, 52 women and girls lost their lives in this province. In the previous year, the total was 58. Both totals were considerably higher than in the years prior to the COVID pandemic.
“It’s actually horrific to see the (numbers) each year,” said Elise Hineman, executive director of the Sexual Assault Centre.
“I am also a survivor of intimate partner violence, years ago, and that’s another piece personally for me why I attend” the annual ceremony, Hineman said.
Leah Morgan of Victim Services Hastings, Prince Edward, Lennox & Addington, said it’s important to hold the annual ceremony “not only to remember the victims of the Montreal massacre, but also to raise awareness around domestic violence, intimate partner violence (and) gender-based violence, and (to honour) the women who lost their lives over the past year in Ontario.”
Several Quinte-area women’s organizations have been getting together for almost 20 years for the ceremony and vigil. From left are Amy Dufresne of the Three Oaks Foundation, Rachael Fraser of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault program at Quinte Health, Jocelyn Pitcher of the Sexual Assault Centre, Sharon Powell of the Community Advocacy and Legal Centre, and Leah Morgan of Victim Services Hastings, Prince Edward, Lennox & Addington. “I think it’s important that we never forget that these 14 women were gunned down strictly because they were women,” said Powell. Photo by Victoria Caminha, QNet News
The increase in reports of violence against women since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is especially worrisome, those at the gathering said. Isolation protocols have led to physical and social isolation, ultimately creating conditions for violence and additional barriers to escape, they said.
“The hardest part we found was the ability for women to actually get out of the home” if they are at risk, Dufresne said:
Victims are not alone; there are multiple help services available in this area, both in person and online.
Social media is a connecting platform where people can share information and connections with their loved ones with the goal of spreading positivity and change, Pitcher said.
During the speech at the ceremony, she said: “Let’s make this day not just a day of remembrance and mourning, but a call to action, a reminder of why violence against women and other forms of oppression continuously require attention, advocacy, and change.
“Let’s get out there and make our voices heard.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis here are some supports:
• Sexual Assault Centre for Quinte and District: 613-967-6300; the 24/7 crisis line is 1-877-544-6424
• Three Oaks Shelter in Belleville: 613-966-3074
• Red Cedars Shelter in Tyendinaga: 1-800-672-9515
• Alternatives for Women in Picton: 613-476-2787
• Maggie’s Resource Centre in Bancroft: 613-332-3010
• Victim Services HPELA: 613-771-1767
• Assaulted Women’s Helpline: 1-888-200-9997
• Talk4Healing 24/7 helpline for Indigenous women: 1-855-554-HEAL (4325)
• LGBT Youthline: 1-800-268-9688
• Trans Lifeline: 877-330-6366
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