Although the Canadian Federation of University Women's (CFUW) Stratford chapter raises awareness year-round about violence against women, a ceremony that CFUW organized on Wednesday was in remembrance of one horrific day in Canada.
Thirty-four years ago, Marc Lépine entered École Polytechnique de Montréal, an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal. With an automatic rifle, he killed 14 women, and wounded 10 women and four men.
The women that were killed include: Geneviève Bergeron; Hélène Colgan; Nathalie Croteau; Barbara Daigneault; Anne-Marie Edward; Maud Haviernick; Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz; Maryse Laganière; Maryse Leclair; Anne-Marie Lemay; Sonia Pelletier; Michèle Richard; Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte.
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, also known informally as White Ribbon Day, is commemorated on Dec. 6 in Canada.
Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma lowered the Canadian flag at city hall to half-mast at the request of the local CFUW chapter.
The group from CFUW that attended bright and early - an 8:30 a.m. ceremony - were happy to have political affiliation.
"We have worked on advocacy but never worked so closely with city hall on this particular issue so we are really, really pleased with the response of the mayor and councillors," said Cambria Ravenhill, a past president of CFUW Stratford.
Ravenhill said Stratford has been fortunate to have strong female councillors, past and present, who have been outspoken about supporting awareness of violence against women. It can happen in many forms, Ravenhill said, including between people that know each other and in domestic situations.
Earlier this year, the City of Stratford declared intimate partner violence an epidemic.
"This is an issue that continues to grow in Canada," said Coun. Jo-Dee Burbach. "We haven't seemed to make any progress in ending intimate partner violence. So I think it is really important for the city to do what it can, by declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic.
"It is important that the provincial government steps up and does the same and important for the federal government to pass Bill C-21 (a gun control bill) that will help with incidents of mass violence.
"Intimate partner violence happens everywhere," added Burbach. "It doesn't always involve guns. It doesn't always involve physical violence. If we raise awareness perhaps we can get all levels of government to put in more resources."
Ravenhill said it is important for the younger generation to understand what happened at École Polytechnique, where women were targets because they were enroled in a traditional male area of study: engineering.
Ravenhill noted that CFUW Stratford is proud that some of their scholarship recipients are studying engineering at university.
"Intimidating us didn't work. The next generation remains confident. But we still need to observe something that was horrifying.
"In this generation, it important for women to be aware - yes go and study engineering - but also be aware there are segments of people that are still like that. You want to hope that there is less violence now but that is not what the statistics are saying. Things are not getting better. It is important to keep that top of mind."
Wednesday's event ties-in with CFUW efforts towards The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence, which runs until Sunday.
Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma said it is important for men to be part of the conversation and the conversation needs to move forward.
"We look at our own personal lives and our own communities - domestic violence against women has not decreased. During COVID it elevated.
"As I shared with the group this morning, we don't celebrate their deaths but we recognize we need to do something positive out of the harm that came to them. It is important for us to come together as a community to share that and think about what we can do in our own lives to change."
Ravenhill said the pandemic increased economic stress on families and individuals. An increase in living expenses, homes, apartments, and a lack of available housing have contributed to increases in mental health concerns, and violence against women.
CFUW Stratford has three advocacy/working groups that address homelessness, climate change and violence against women.
Ravenhill said those three can all intersect given the state of affairs in the world.
Burbach said it is important to continue to work on education and prevention and remember events like École Polytechnique. Violence against women is a societal issue often treated as an individual one, the councillor said.
"It is absolutely important to remember this and ensure incidents like it are not repeated. It is important for young people, the public, the police, it's in everyone's life. It is important for us to bring remembrance so people understand it and can do something about it."
