December 6, 2004, will be the fifteenth anniversary of the day 14 women were murdered while attending engineering classes at the École Polytechnique in Montreal. Ever since that terrible day, people across Canada and Quebec have gathered on December 6 not just to remember those women, but to mourn for all women and girls who have been lost to violence and to fight for change.
This year the Canadian Labour Congress has launched a campaign that looks at 15 ways to end violence against women. To be safe at home and at work, to feel free from threat in the world, women need social, political and economic equality:
- Women need safe and affordable housing.
- Women need reliable economic safety nets like Employment Insurance.
- Women need to know that welfare rates will keep them above the poverty line.
- Women need universal access to quality, dependable childcare.
- Women need the opportunity for an education that is affordable.
- Women need better wages and pay equity.
- Women need security in their old age that a solid public pension brings.
- Women need support and shelter from violence.
- Women need better protection from sexual violence under the law.
- Women need a justice system that protects them from abuse.
- Women need shelters that can accommodate their disabilities.
- Women need organizations that promote their equality on many fronts.
- Women need better harassment protection in the workplace.
- Women need to be treated fairly in the immigration process.
- Women need to be safe around the world from war and abuse.
The campaign asks Canadians to send one post card to their MP every day between November 22 and December 6, the anniversary, each featuring a different demand. You can also fax your MP via the link above. Please do so if you are in Canada. If you are not, please consider sending a letter in support of these demands to our Prime Minister or the nearest Canadian embassy or consulate, and push with your own government to pursue similar policies.
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