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A new Liberal government has been installed at Queen's Park. And all Ontario political Parties have made commitments to advance work to end violence against women. Some concrete steps were listed in their platforms (see Political Party Responses to Step it Up). Others were not, but are no less critical to women and children for their absence. We need to work to ensure Parties keep their promises and work harder to put all of women's needs on the agenda. Women in Ontario have been working to expose violence against women and have it stopped for more than 30 years. Most of the 10 Steps we support could have been accomplished in that time if the political will had been there to do it. Isn't now the time? Since just 1995, more than 263 women and 40 children have been murdered in the context of intimate relationships and violence within the family, and many more have been murdered by men in other situations. These killings are only the tip of the iceberg. Half of women will experience criminal violence by men in their homes, communities, workplaces and schools in their lifetime.
[At the Web site of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, you can read its Violence Against Women and Girls Fact Sheet for more information.] Many women more will live with fear, threats, humiliation and control that aren't recognized officially as crimes under Canada's Criminal Code. Women whose ancestors lived on these lands before "Canada" was born, whose skin isn't white, who have a disability, who are new to the country, who are young or whose first language isn't English, will be more in danger of this violence than other women. Isn't now the time to stop this? |
