Dec. 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
The day marks the anniversary of the tragic events in 1989 at école Polytechnique in Montreal. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the tragic events, where 14 women were murdered in an act of gender-based violence.
Chrissy Halliday President of the Prince Albert Council of Women said that the day is important to acknowledge because the problem of gender-based violence does not go away.
“It’s really important because first of all, we cannot forget what happened in Quebec and violence against women is still very, very prevalent in our society. And actually our statistics are starting to go, they’re getting worse, they are not getting better,” Halliday said.
“ They were getting better for a number of years and we still need to keep this in the forefront of our minds specifically in Saskatchewan, violence against women and specifically violence against women of color is something that pretty much everybody that you talk to has either been affected by directly or they know somebody who’s been affected by it,” Halliday said.
Keeping the day in mind helps us to not attempt to make the issue go away according to Halliday.
“And so it’s not a day that we can sweep under the rug. It’s not a day that we can push to the wayside. It has to be acknowledged and the more that we educate public on it, the more that we talk about it, It allows the victims to heal because it allows them to share their own stories,” Halliday said.
“But it also allows people to speak up if they see something,” she added.
Halliday said that even though there were no special events planned for Prince Albert just acknowledging the day was enough.
“Acknowledgement is enough absolutely,” Halliday said.
She explained that in her work life she talks to people from all walks of life and has met many women affected by gender-based violence.
“Een for myself, who is aware of the statistics, who is aware that this is a problem. Even I become shocked by the amount of women that I meet that have been directly affected, because they themselves have been abused or their child has been abused or something like that,” Halliday said.
“It’s unfortunate, but I believe with education and awareness we can start to turn those numbers in the opposite direction,”
Halliday said that an example of education that could be done is to the many services that are available.
“Specifically in Prince Albert. We have amazing, amazing people that work at victim services that can help provide support and help provide community contracts,” she said.
Another example is Gateway Regional Victim Services which serves the Prince Albert RCMP region.
“They have amazing people that work for them that are very passionate about their work.
They’re very, very caring. They’re very understanding. We have a variety of mental health workers in Prince Albert, such as Catholic Family Services. There are classes that help people deal with interpersonal violence, help people deal with anger,” she said.
Education about resources is fundamental in this area and Prince Albert is well served according to Halliday.
“Our community has so many resources I can’t even start to list them because we’d be here forever. But a lot of people don’t know where to turn to first, how to get connected to these resources. And like I say, Victim Services out of the Prince Albert Police is an excellent, excellent resource to help get you connected with these community support,” she said.
The province also acknowledged that on Dec. 6 people across Canada are wearing white ribbons to raise awareness of gender-based violence. The White Ribbon Campaign which coincides with the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women was started by a group of men in Toronto in response to the tragic events in 1989 at école Polytechnique in Montreal.
“Violence against women affects us all,” Minister Responsible for Status of Women and Prince Albert Nothcote MLA Alana Ross said in a release/. “Our government is dedicated to supporting survivors and breaking the cycle of violence, building safer communities for everyone. We will continue to focus on women’s safety, security and wellbeing so Saskatchewan can live free from gender-based violence.”
