For 25 years, women across Canada have met to recognize Dec. 6, the day when 14 young women studying to be engineers were shot dead at École Polytechnique in Montreal.
It’s been our job to bring gender violence to the forefront. Twenty-five years is a landmark where we stop and reflect: How far have we come?
Some great work has been done. We are doing a better job at responding to and supporting those wounded by violence, and specialized services have been developed to support specific communities. But it is still inadequate to meet the demands, and funding is always precarious.
According to a 2011 report by Statistics Canada, “rates of domestic violence have decreased in recent years. The decline is partly due to increased social equality and financial freedom for women, which makes it easier for them to leave abusive relationships … It is also due to effort by groups working to end violence towards women. Their achievements include improved public awareness, improved training for police officers and Crown attorneys, having police lay charges rather than the victim, more co-ordination of community services, and the creation of domestic violence legislation in some areas of Canada.”
But the Canadian Women’s Foundation notes some disturbing trends: After falling for a decade, the rate of intimate-partner homicide against female partners increased by 19 per cent, the third increase in four years. On average, every six days, a woman is killed by her intimate partner.
After falling for more than a decade, rates of domestic violence have flat-lined. There are 40,000 domestic violence arrests a year, about 12 per cent of all crime. But it is estimated only 22 per cent of incidents are reported to police.
Statistics Canada vividly reveals how extensive violence towards women remains:
• Each year, an estimated 360,000 children are exposed to violence in their homes, affecting them deeply.
• Domestic violence is the No. 1 cause of injury to women age 19 to 45, according to a recent article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. It should be recognized as a major public-health issue.
• In 2006, one in eight prosecutions in B.C. were domestic-violence cases. And legal aid has been slashed.
• The RCMP reported that there are 1,186 aboriginal women and girls missing or murdered in Canada since 1980.
• A woman is sexually assaulted every six minutes in Canada, but only 12 per cent of sexual assaults are reported to police. It is challenging for women to come forward, particularly if they are subjected to public blame and denial.
• Tracey Porteous, executive director of B.C.’s Ending Violence Association, reported that 90 per cent of offenders are serial offenders. A premier’s forum on public safety in 2005 revealed that a sex offender in B.C. has a 98.5 per cent chance of getting away with it. There is no cross-ministry policy, and funding to all B.C. sexual-assault services was cut in 2002. The remaining victim services have chronic wait lists.
• Sexual assault and partner violence costs the country $9 billion per year. It is astounding that this is not addressed as an epidemic.
Despite the prevalence of violence against women, in recent years there have been extensive cuts to many anti-violence programs. There have been cuts to income assistance, housing and other essential parts of the social-safety net. Anti-violence workers are finding the women they work with are facing more serious and complex issues, including extreme poverty, lack of affordable housing, mental-health issues, difficulties finding suitable child care to be able to work and less access to education, making women vulnerable to further violence.
The Canadian Research Institute made a powerful critique: “Governments may talk about equality, but their housing, income, employment, education, criminal justice, immigration, health, home care and child-care policies help keep women trapped in abusive relationships. [Governments] can become a part of the solution, but at this time, they are actively and lethally perpetuating the problem.”
The Canadian Network of Women’s Shelters and Transition Houses has called for a national vision on violence against women that is co-ordinated, clear and strong.
This year is also the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The wall on violence towards women has some cracks, but it is still standing strong. Anti-violence work means working to dismantle the visible and invisible walls of privilege and sexism, racism, homophobia, poverty, colonization and ageism.
The work of community groups and advocates is needed now as much as ever. When those who care unite, we are a force to be reckoned with. We still have much work to do.
Dianne de Champlain is co-ordinator for WestShore Bridges for Women. She is the keynote speaker at the Montreal Massacre Memorial that begins today at 1 p.m. at First Metropolitan United Church, 932 Balmoral Rd., Victoria.
