Today is the
25th anniversary of the Montreal massacre, the murder of 14 females, most of whom were engineering students at Montreal's university, École Polytechnique:
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_Remembrance_and_Action_on_Violence_Against_Women.
The gunman, Marc Lépine, ended up committing suicide by shooting himself.
Feminism" was his claim to the shooting death of these women and the injury of 10 other women.
Every day all around the world there are incidents of
brutality against women committed primarily by men. Violence can include:
1. gender-based violence
2. rape, marital rape, and incest
3. murder and assault including dowry-related violence and honour killings
4. forced marriage
5. female genital mutilation
6. human trafficking including cross-border prostitution rings and bride kidnappings
7. war crimes including rape as a weapon of war
Source:
http://www.bwss.org/resources/information-on-abuse/numbers-are-people-too/)
Statistics are astounding and may vary depending on the source; however, here are some from the Canadian Women's Foundation:
http://www.canadianwomen.org/facts-about-violence. I'm not sure what they are for Stats Canada.
Some
recent close-to-home incidents include allegations of sexual assault against Jian Ghomeshi, former CBC broadcaster and Bill Cosby, American comedian and actor.
There are also sexual harrassment incidents by Members of Parliament, and sexual assault and harrassment by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and other such positions as with male firefighters against their female counterpart.
Other cases include the female victims of Robert Pickton, serial killer in BC and also aboriginal females who were killed and/or missing along BC's 'Highway of Tears.'
In countries such as India and Pakistan, there are numerous so-called '
honour' killings. According to Wikipedia,
An honor killing or honour killing (see spelling differences) is the homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family or community, usually for reasons such as refusing to enter an arranged marriage, being in a relationship that is disapproved by their relatives, having sex outside marriage, becoming the victim of rape, dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate, or engaging in homosexual relations. (http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing)
Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban because she promotes 'western thinking and fights for the rights of girls to go to school.
A woman in various parts of the world can be stoned or beaten even if pregnant for alleged adultery, or have acid thrown on her and then shunned as it is believed she deserved it.
I remember cigarette ads from years ago that claimed "
You've come a long way baby" but have we, as women? Yes and no! No when it comes to equality in terms of social status for one. We have a long way to go, yet!
And calling us 'baby' doesn't help matters! That sounds rather deragatory, doesn't it? I, for one, do not find that an affectionate endearment. It sounds too disempowering a term, at least to me...same with 'girl.'
Do women call their husbands or boyfriends, 'boy' as in "
hey boy..." or "
good boy" or the like? No! That sounds like language used to talk to a dog!
Ok, I'm getting off tangent here though I'm trying to make a point here. You get the drift I'm sure.
White awareness ribbon from symbols.com
The list of violence against women goes on and on and on... You hear or read about such reports on a
daily basis unfortunately. The following is an indication of such crimes and worse, and also reports the top five countries reputable for such acts of violence against women:
http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/news/malala-yousafzai-said-to-be-improving-in-british-hospital-while-a-young-afg.
When will it STOP?! S-T-O-P! Enough is enough! Enough of this sickening brutality! What can I as an individual, we as individuals - yes, you men too, in particular! - country, society do to end this...once and for all?!
(breathe)...Ok, first of all we need to focus on the opposite of violence..what is that again? Oh yeah, peace! ...
