National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
Genre Violence against women
Date(s) December 6
Frequency Annually
Location(s) Canada
Years active 27
Inaugurated 1991 by the Parliament of Canada[1]
Organized by Parliament of Canada
Website National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women at Status of Women Canada

The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, also known informally as White Ribbon Day, is a day commemorated in Canada each December 6, the anniversary of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, in which armed student Marc Lépine murdered fourteen women and injured ten others in the name of "fighting feminism".[2] The commemoration date was established by the Parliament of Canada in 1991.[1] The legislation was introduced in the House of Commons as a private member's bill by Dawn Black, Member of Parliament for New Westminster-Burnaby, British Columbia, and received all-party support.

Canadian flags on all federal buildings – including the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario – are flown at half-mast on December 6. Canadians are encouraged to observe a minute of silence on December 6 and to wear a white ribbon (or a purple ribbon) as a commitment to end violence against women.

The victims of the 1989 massacre were Geneviève Bergeron, 21; Hélène Colgan, 23; Nathalie Croteau, 23; Barbara Daigneault, 22; Anne-Marie Edward, 21; Maud Haviernick, 29; Barbara Klueznick, 31; Maryse Laganière, 25; Maryse Leclair, 23; Anne-Marie Lemay, 22; Sonia Pelletier, 23; Michèle Richard, 21; Anne St-Arneault, 23; and Annie Turcotte, 21.[3]

In response to the event, many Canadians have worked hard to establish memorial sites all across the country, to ensure that people will become more aware of the incident that occurred, to force society in recognizing how often violence occurs towards women, and to appreciate the lives of the women who were killed.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Staff (undated) "The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence" Archived 2013-09-10 at the Wayback Machine.. Status of Women Canada. Retrieved December 6, 2011. "December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal. They died because they were women at the hands of Marc Lépine, a troubled young man who blamed his failures in life on women."
  2. ↑ Sourour, Teresa K. "Report of Coroner's Investigation" (PDF). Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Bindel, Julie (2012-12-03). "The Montreal massacre: Canada's feminists remember". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  4. ↑ Bold, Christine; Knowles, Ric; Leach, Belinda (2002). "Feminist Memorializing and Cultural Countermemory: The Case of Marianne's Park". Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. A concern for advocates of feminism and violence against woman is having the massacre stand for violence against woman more broadly. The worry is that the details of the massacre may shadow the power-dynamics of heterosexual relationships and the prevalent violence of women. 28: 125. doi:10.1086/340905. JSTOR 10.1086/340905. line feed character in |journal= at position 49 (help)

Rosenberg, S. (1998). Reflections on memorializing december 6. Resources for Feminist Research, 26(3), 203-212. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/194881366?accountid=15078</ref>


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