The day was December 6, 1989.
The place was École Polytechnique de Montréal.
The act was an antifeminist mass shooting in which fourteen women were murdered.
Thirty-four years later on December 6, 2023, students, employees and community members gathered at Niagara College to remember the lives lost to gender-based violence in the Niagara community and beyond, and to acknowledge the work still needed to address ongoing and systemic gender-based violence.
The hybrid gathering based at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake featured a panel of community members actively working to end gender-based violence, including:
- Elaine Berwald: Anti-Human Trafficking Liaison, Niagara Chapter – Native Women
- Erika Mitrovics: Family Support Worker – Breaking Free from Family Violence, Niagara Chapter – Native Women
- Nicole Regehr: Executive Director, Gillian’s Place
- Samantha Forbes: Manager of Prevention and Public Education, Birchway Niagara
Opening the event, Pam Skinner, Senior Vice-President, College Operations, Elysia Dardarian, Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Coordinator, and Samah Sabra, Associate Director, Workplace Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, put the day into an NC-context.
Sabra tied a land acknowledgement to the College’s commitment to creating safer spaces for women and 2SLGBTQ+ people, and especially Indigenous women who face a higher risk of being targeted by gender-based violence.
Vice-President Skinner made a personal connection to being a mother of two daughters, and to her previous work in corrections with incarcerated Indigenous women and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
Dardarian referred to NC’s Consent is Key campaign and the supports for students who have been affected by sexual and gender-based violence.
The flags on both campuses were also lowered to half-mast.
The community leaders gave insight into their work supporting women in Niagara, stressing the rising rates of intimate partner violence and human trafficking since the pandemic.
They highlighted the importance of additional resources and support for children, families and affordable housing, and the intersectional nature of abuse.
Forbes cited that one in four women will experience gender-based violence in their lifetime.
“Share these statistics and make people uncomfortable,” said Forbes who encouraged attendees to raise awareness about gender-based violence within their own circles.
Berwald addressed recent local femicides that have rocked our own community, and unfolded a long, red satin dress – an intense symbol and emotive representation of the women and victims who wore it. She told the story of Indigenous woman and St. Catharines resident Jennifer Furminger who travelled to Vancouver in the late nineties in search of her birth mother and who fell victim to serial murderer Robert Pickton.
The emotional event closed with questions about how to volunteer and support the work of community organizations and students at the College.
Education and access to and investment in resources were cited above all, and continued student placements within the organizations encouraged.
For more information on gender-based violence and prevention education, visit:
Niagara Chapter Native Women: www.ncnw.ca
Gillian’s Place: www.gilliansplace.com
Birchway Niagara: www.birchway.ca
Niagara College Consent is Key: www.niagaracollege.ca/consentiskey
