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All posts in Anti-violence

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Recommended Reading: NYSHN statement & resources on sexual assault in support of Indigenous women in IDLE NO MORE and all survivors of violence

December 31, 2012 • Julia Horel

The Native Youth Sexual Health Network has released a statement on the recent sexual assault in Thunder Bay, as well as offering support and resources for all Indigenous women in the Idle No More movement and all survivors of violence.

Violence against Indigenous women and girls has been, and continues to be used as a weapon of colonialism and a way to undermine the strength of our leadership. For this reason, NYSHN sees raising our voices together against sexual violence and making change for violence against women to stop as an integral part of ANY movement. This is especially relevant given the fact that Idle No More was started by Indigenous women. The health and well-being of our communities depends on the health and well-being of our mothers - including Mother Earth.

However, this is not only about ‘protecting women’ - it is also about protecting our men, Two-Spirit, Trans and gender non-conforming brothers and sisters and all our communities from the everyday violence of colonialism. Gender based violence, rape, and sexual assault are not ‘social issues’ that can be dealt with after the fact, they are real and happening NOW.

Resisting all forms of violence, whether it is legislative assaults like Bill C-45 or sexual assault is EVERYONE’s responsibility because gender based violence affects us all. Laws not only affect our lands but also our bodies: there is a direct connection between the violence in these two areas. We affirm the right survivors or victims of violence have to be believed and supported unconditionally when they say they have been assaulted regardless of whether they report to police or media. Trust that survivors and victims know what is best for them, and support their decisions about what they would like to happen after an assault.

Read the entire statement and see the extensive resource list here (PDF).
- Anti-violence
- In My Opinion...
On White Ribbon’s Be-a-Man.ca Launch

December 11, 2012 • Beth Lyons

Put her in her place
Tears are weak
Feelings are for chicks
Stop acting gay
Grow some balls
Say it with fists

Toward the end of November, a series of posters featuring these statements went up in Toronto. The posters also had be-a-man.ca printed along the bottom. The be-a-man.ca site featured video of people walking past the posters, followed by text asking if the posters reflected what it means to be a man, then answering “we don’t think so” and announcing that on Dec. 3rd a new code of manhood would be written. It wrapped up with a revamped White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) logo and a countdown to Dec. 3rd.

Even before visiting the site, I had assumed the posters were for an anti-violence campaign that would ultimately deconstruct the offensive statements. Still, the posting of statements like that in public spaces without any accompanying unpacking or context made me uncomfortable, and the site’s video didn’t entirely reassure me. I dig WRC, though, and wanted to see what we were counting down to.

When Dec. 3rd hit, the big reveal was a redesigned WRC site, which included their New Code of Manhood initiative. The New Code discusses creating a code of masculinity “as complex and diverse as men” and asks visitors to “share a #manhug” (hug a man, take a picture, post it to social media with the hashtag) in support. I remain ill at ease, and am very lucky that Shameless affords me a space and community to explore why. (more inside…)
Repost: National day of remembrance and action of violence against women in Canada

December 6, 2012 • Guest Blogger

This was originally posted one year ago at the Shameless blog. The writer has kindly agreed to have it posted again.

Today is for you, you lucky people who have not experienced violence.

Today is the day for you, who do not know what it is like to be harmed for being a woman, to remember the victims of l’Ecole polytechnique, 14 beautiful young women who were gunned down for being women, accused of being feminists. As if that was a trait worth being murdered for.

Today is a reminder for you, that every day women are raped, beaten and murdered. This happens in Canada; this happens around the globe. 1 in 6? 3 in 4? I have to admit that the specific numbers are less relevant to me. They are simply too high.

Today is for you because I, like all women who have experienced violence, don’t need a day of remembrance. I remember every single day. I remember the violence, rape and abuse that has been inflicted on me by my husband, family, friends and strangers just because I am a woman. Well, I feel pretty confident that my being a poor, fat, First Nations woman from a hard background has something to do with it too. Indigenous women in North America are almost 3x more likely to experience sexual violence. This I know, this I have experienced. And those intersections matter, but for me, right now, I believe I experienced these forms of violence just because I am a woman.

I also know that binary systems of gender harm all of us, whether we’ve experienced violence or not, whether we identify as man, woman, or somewhere on the range of gender. Those are important conversations. But today, just for once, asking “what about the men” is a derail. We know about the impact of gendered violence, and we know enough about power and privilege to know it hurts everyone, but it hurts those who have violence inflicted on them more particularly: women, trans people, and people with non-binary genders.

(more inside…)
Remembering isn’t enough

December 6, 2012 • METRAC ReAct

December 6 is Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women and Children. It’s the anniversary of the murder of 14 women students at Montreal’s l’École Polytechnique in 1989. It’s also a call to action to fight violence against women and girls.

Statistics Canada reports that one in two Canadian women will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime. Such a big problem might make you think, “what difference can I make?” But it is possible to make a difference – here’s one story.

This fall, it seemed like sexual assaults were happening everywhere in Toronto: twelve around Kensington Market and Christie Pits park; two in an Avenue and Lawrence home; a sixteen-year-old girl attacked outside Broadview and Danforth subway station; and older women assaulted at home. There were more than a thousand reported sexual attacks in the city this year, and only about 10% of all sexual assaults are reported to police.

In one neighborhood, the Christie and Bloor area, a remarkable thing happened. Community members came together and took action. “Stop Rape Now” posters went up and rallies were held. Probably due to all this grassroots mobilization, at least in part, there were many news updates about the problem. METRAC was even invited by a City Councillor to help residents lead a Safety Audit to make the neighbourhood safer.

(more inside…)
October 4, 2012 Vigil Locations: for Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women

October 3, 2012 • Julia Horel

From the Native Women’s Association of Canada:

Each year on October 4th communities across Canada come together to honour the lives of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. As we do so, we remember the lives of sisters, daughters, mothers and grandmothers tragically taken from us.

There will be at least 164 vigils on Thursday, October 4 across Canada. A full list of cities and towns with all information can be found here: http://nwac.ca/programs/2012-vigil-locations

OR

Virtual Candlelight Vigil
The www.october4th.ca website was created as a place of hope and healing where we can all come together to honour missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. When you visit, you will be invited to light a candle and leave a dedication. Please join us!
Visual Essay: Take Back the Night 2012 – Un-Occupying Our Minds, Healing Ourselves

October 2, 2012 • deb singh

Take Back the Night! A community fair, rally and protest to raise awareness of the issues of violence against women and trans people and our fear of walking the streets at night. But TBTN is so much more than that; it is a meeting place for us survivors, it is a place of safety and support for survivors of all kinds of violence, it is a place of empowerment for us, even if only for one night.

As the woman in leadership of Take Back the Night Toronto, I have the honour and privilege to work with countless volunteers and community organizations to coordinate the event. This year, we had a planning committee of many individuals and community organizations who included the Parkdale Community Health Centre, North York Women’s Shelter, Streethealth, Women Abuse Prevention Council, Springtide Resources, the Anne Johnston Health Station, current and past crisis line counselors of the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, Centre for Independent Living, and many, many more women!

The following is a visual essay of photos of the community fair and rally at the event. All photos were taken by Gelay Amdo.

Celebrating 32 years of protesting at the community fair. (Gelay Amdo)

Women highlight many issues at the community fair. (Gelay Amdo)

(more inside…)
- Anti-violence
- Rape Culture
Events: Take Back the Night 2012 - Toronto

September 13, 2012 • Julia Horel

Take Back the Night’s theme this year is “Un-Occupying Our Minds, Healing Ourselves.”

Take Back the Night is a FREE community event where we celebrate survivors of (sexual) violence, protest our right to live lives free of violence and build our diverse communities. TBTN includes a free community dinner, a community fair with resources, a rally with speakers and performers and a march. This year our event will feature the amazing community of PARKDALE.

Saturday September 15th, 2012
Masaryk Cowan Community Recreation Centre
220 Cowan Ave. (south of Queen West, west of Dufferin)

Community Fair 4-6pm
Rally 6-8pm
March 8-9:30pm

ASL interpretation will be available.

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/100808783396025/
Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape: http://www.trccmwar.ca/drupal/node/288

(TRCC/MWAR)

Jeff Perera and Tuval Dinner of the White Ribbon Campaign will be running a workshop for male allies during this year’s Take Back the Night 2012 - Parkdale.

Take Back the Block: 2 neighbourhood parties

An open invitation for residents to reclaim our neighbourhoods after the recent increase of reported sexual assaults in Toronto. Come together for an evening of food, entertainment and solidarity to make our streets safer for residents and visitors.

Take Back the Block will take place immediately after the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre’s Take Back the Night march. Meet your neighbours, have a laugh and leave the porch light on.

LOCATIONS

East end – Pitman Hall Quad, Ryerson University (Music by: Patti Cake)
West end – Bellevue Square Park, Kensington Market (Music by: Simon Borer of Entire Cities)

#TBTB
taketheblock@gmail.com

Sponsored by Toronto city councillors Adam Vaughan (Ward 20) and Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27).
- Anti-violence
- In My Opinion...
To the People of the Danzig Community, With Love

August 8, 2012 • deb singh

Dear People of the Danzig, Scarborough Community in the City of Toronto,

I am compelled to apologize to your community members, families, children, mothers, fathers and friends for the great loss you have experienced. My deepest condolences to your community.

I am aware that many people are talking about the violence that occurred at the Danzig Block party. Some media outlets are talking about who died, how they died, how old they were and who they were loved by. Politicians are talking about gun registries and gun bans. Social workers and community activists are talking about poverty and funding for community programs. And our mayor is talking some crap about ‘hug-a’thug’ programs and that he is a big supporter of youth.

I’m not sure what you want us to talk about – what you, yourselves are talking about, except I imagine, that grief (can) make(s) it hard to talk about all these other things.

(more inside…)
Hold Ya Head: What will grab our attention after Jun Lin’s head is recovered?

July 10, 2012 • Raisa Bhuiyan

I remembered Yoshihiro Hattori when I first read about the murder of Trayvon Martin this past March. Yoshihiro was a 16-year old Japanese exchange student who was fatally shot by a man in 1992 when he had knocked on his door in search of directions to a Halloween party. Upon his arrest, the killer Rodney Peairs claimed that he was only ‘defending’ his home from the ‘intruder’ who was ‘was acting in a menacing, aggressive fashion…like a stranger invading someone’s home turf”.

While there was indeed a brief moral panic over Yoshihiro’s death in American and Japanese news broadcasts during the months following his murder, news cycle frenzy began to die down and soon enough everyone just forgot.

Yoshihiro’s murder isn’t a special case.

Rather he joins the numbers of other murdered international students of colour like 23-year-old York University student Qian Liu, 21-year old Coquitlam College student Amanda Zhao Wei and 33-year old Concordia student Jun Lin.

The murders of these three international students of colour is no coincidence, but rather their murders are symptomatic of a culture and society that just does not value things like social investment, protection, and accountability, especially when it comes to the murders of people of colour.

At the moment, the murders of international students of colour is receiving massive signal boosts within our news feed cycles. While often narrated by horror, fascination, disgust and sensationalism, these fast fix news stories often leave out how factors like race play a part in the murders of international students of colour.

In earlier eras, imagery of racist brutality and war atrocities moved nations to act and to change domestic and foreign policy in the interests of global justice. These contemporary images of the murders of people like Yoshihiro, Qian, Jun and Amanda moved all of us with collective outrage, but only, it seems, for a short time.

Where is this collective outrage today?

(more inside…)
- Anti-violence
- METRAC ReAct
A world that bleeds for love…

June 15, 2012 • METRAC ReAct

It has become apparent that our streets are in a state of emergency. Usually our initial reaction is to point fingers as to who is to blame for the dismay that lays hidden in the cracks of the concrete. The recent shooting at Toronto’s Eaton Centre, it is reminiscent of the year of the gun, 2005, juxtaposed with the recent tragic event at our city’s central tourist attraction, sheds light on the concrete that has been cracking for some time now. This also urges Torontonians to think of what it means for the city as we are ushered into the summer of 2012. It scares us to acknowledge our bleeding streets, which are screaming to be heard. Even though the pertinent question still remains: what is the solution and how can it be bottled fast enough, for a solution? Is there such a thing, when our streets are currently in a state of crisis?

(Kuhkay)

There are multiple realities that coexist within Toronto. They often collide into contact with each other by way of inopportune moments. The tragic event that displayed itself on centre stage at the Eaton Centre on Saturday, June 2nd, has left scars that have marred the skin of Toronto’s fabric. But is it enough to truly call to attention the harsh realities and conversations that our city needs to start having? (more inside…)