STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Violence against women happens everywhere. In India we have seen horrifying news stories of a woman dying after being brutally gang raped on a bus. In B.C. we have just had the report of the Oppal Inquiry into missing and murdered women released.The statistics are frightening. A 2002 report from the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women found:
- Half of Canadian women have survived at least one incident of sexual or physical violence.
- Over a quarter (29%) of Canadian women have been assaulted by a spouse. Forty-five percent of women assaulted by a male partner suffered physical injury. Injuries included bruising, cuts, scratches, burns, broken bones, fractures, internal injuries and miscarriages.
- Only 10% of sexual assaults on women are reported to the police. Extrapolating from this data, there are 509,860 reported and unreported sexual assaults in Canada per year. That’s 1,397 per day; which means that every minute of every day, a woman or child in Canada is being sexually assaulted. Very often, sexual assaults are repeated on the same woman or child by the same offender.
- Wife battering carries on into old age. Spousal homicide accounts for close to one third (30%) of murders of women over 65.
- Over one million Canadian children have witnessed violence against their mothers by their fathers or father figures. In 52% of these cases, the mother feared for her life, and in 61%, the mother sustained physical injuries. Children who witness violence against their mothers often exhibit signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, and their social skills and school achievement are adversely affected.
We need to end violence against women.
V-Day, is the global movement to end violence against women and girls, refuses to watch as more than one billion women experience violence.
ONE BILLION RISING (http://onebillionrising.org) is a promise that on February 14th, 2013, we will ensure that millions of women and people of all genders rise up around the world to say, ENOUGH. The violence ends NOW.
On Thursday Feb 14, you are encouraged to attend these events in Vancouver:
- A flash mob at Broadway and Granville intersection (in front of Chapters, 2505 Granville St. Vancouver, B.C) @ 11:00 am on February 14, 2013.
- The Women’s Memorial March which takes place on Feb 14th 2013 and the public is asked to join at noon at the Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Street (corner Hastings, Vancouver) when the march takes to the streets and proceeds through the Downtown Eastside.
By marching together we can make a better world.
In Solidarity,
Anju Parmar
Vancouver Local Women’s Committee
At the January General Membership Meeting held January 27, 2013, a packed room voted unanimously to pass a motion condemning violence against women and endorsing the ONE BILLION RISING campaign.
The motion passed reads as follows:
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Rapes in India Since we have seen two recent high profile gang rapes in India; and Since the UN’s human-rights chief calls rape in India a “national problem”; and Since around the world women are vulnerable to acts of rape; and Since in India and globally women are protesting rape culture and are demanding equality and respect for women; and Since February 14, 2013 will see over 13,000 organizations around the globe coming together for the One Billion rising campaign that demands an end to violence against women. Therefore we want the Vancouver Local of CUPW to:
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