(CNW) A nurse is stabbed to death in a hospital recovery room in Windsor by her estranged boyfriend. A dismembered woman?s body is found in a dumpster in Toronto. A teenage girl tells of sexual harassment and assaults at her school. These are the horrendous stories making headlines in Canadian newspapers.
On Dec. 6, 16 years ago, 14 women were murdered at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, putting the issue of violence against women front and centre.
Geneviève Bergeron (21), Hélène Colgan (23), Nathalie Croteau (23), Barbara Daigneault (22), Anne-Marie Edward (21), Maud Haviernick (29), Barbara Klucznik Widajewicz (31), Maryse Laganière (25), Maryse Leclair (23), Anne-Marie Lemay (27), Sonia Pelletier (23), Michèle Richard (21), Annie St-
Arneault (23), Annie Turcotte (21) were killed Dec. 6, 1989.
YWCA Canada interim CEO Holly Nimmons states: ?As front-line shelter staff and advocates work to end violence with scant resources, public officials continue to play the jurisdictional shell game with women?s lives. It is time to make women?s equality and violence against women a real priority. Women
across the country are calling for federal politicians to make a real commitment.?
The YWCA in Sudbury operates Genevra House, a safe home for women and children fleeing abusive domestic situations.
The Sudbury Women?s Centre held a commemorative session for the victims of the Montreal Massacre yesterday. Local women shared their stories of violence. It was followed by a workshop in self defence.
