By Fiona Joy Green
December 6 is a date seared into my heart, mind and soul.
As many know, as described in the Canadian Encyclopedia, on December 6, 1989, a man entered a mechanical engineering classroom at Montreal's École Polytechnique armed with a semi-automatic weapon. After separating the women from the men, he opened fire on the women while screaming, "You are all feminists." Fourteen young women were murdered, and 13 other people were wounded. The shooter then turned the gun on himself. In his suicide note, he blamed feminists for ruining his life. The note contained a list of 19 "radical feminists" who he said would have been killed had he not run out of time. It included the names of well-known women in Quebec, including journalists, television personalities and union leaders.
The event shook many Canadians to the core. This was the first mass shooting the country had experienced. For many feminists, the message of the shooting was clear. It took a while for the male journalists and others to realize that the women were murdered by misogyny. This lack of understanding and refusal to believe it was an act of misogyny was painful and a clear sign of the depth, strength and internalization of patriarchy.
The massacre was a poignant moment for me. It took place four months into my first year of teaching an evening undergraduate introductory women's studies course. Shaken and knowing I needed to do something to build community and support students, I led my class to the Manitoba Legislative building the following evening. We silently walked the long kilometre through fresh cold snow and crisp dark air from the University of Winnipeg to meet up with other feminists. We found our way to the lower level and gathered closely together with others under the rotunda, shifting and making space for those who kept joining the crowd. Then, one by one, we declared in scared and then powerful voices, "I am a feminist".
Since 1991, December 6th is The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Each year, on December 6, we remember the names and the lives of the women killed:
- Geneviève Bergeron
- Hélène Colgan
- Nathalie Croteau
- Barbara Daigneault
- Anne-Marie Edward
- Maud Haviernick
- Maryse Laganière
- Maryse Leclair
- Anne-Marie Lemay
- Sonia Pelletier
- Michèle Richard
- Annie St-Arneault
- Annie Turcotte
- Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz
The June 28, 2023 triple stabbing in a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo shows how it continues to be dangerous to be a feminist and to teach about gender injustice and the need for gender equity. Violence, misogyny and transphobia – particularly against trans women of colour – continue at horrendous rates. And Indigenous women, women of colour, women living with disabilities, and visible minority women also suffer intimate partner violence and gender violence at high rates.
Violence against women must stop.
Remember. Mourn. Fight for human rights for all women.
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