The Star carried this article yesterday about The War on Women: Elly Armour, Jane Hursham, and Criminal Domestic Violence in Canadian Homes, by Brian Vallée.
Stephen Lewis wrote an impassioned foreword for the book, urging the creation of a fully funded United Nations international agency for women that would provide “a tremendous force for advocacy and intervention” and would “inevitably move toward the recognition that domestic violence is its own holocaust….We’re not just fighting for women’s human rights; we’re fighting for women’s lives.”
The title quote is speaking to the current climate of right wing insistence that men are just as often abused as women. Such a claim is pure fallacy of course and far too much credence is being given to this ridiculous position.
here are some stats from METRAC;
Between 1979 and 1998, 1468 women were killed by their husbands, compared with 433 men killed by their wives. (Statistics Canada 2000, 6)
Immigrant and refugee women often stay in abusive relationships because of isolation, few economic resources, a lack of employment or underemployment and language barriers. (Bhola and Nelson 1990, C-4)
In Ontario, between 1995 and 2005, 231 women were murdered by their partners or former partners. From January to November 2006, 24 women and 12 children in Ontario were murdered in acts of violence against women.
Until we recognize the degree of violence that we turn a blind eye to on a daily basis; until we stop giving things silly names like Domestic Violence; until we accept that free speech, and fair play does not require us to listen to or give credence to those who down play or indeed back the use of violence in the home, we will continue to see women being murdered by those they trusted most.
November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month in Ontario a great reminder to send what you can to those working on women’s behalf or to write letters, or to volunteer at a help phone or shelter. Or maybe just to listen to a neighbour who may be in danger.
title quote from Eileen Morrow
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