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All Issues | 2014 Issues

WOMEN FEMMES NB

IN THIS ISSUE:

Featured Article:
Government of Canada Launches Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Notices

Did You Know?

In the News:

    - Let Hate Go, Says Mother of Montreal Massacre Shooter Marc Lépine
    - Women are the Victims of Climate Change – and the Keys to Climate Action
    - Domestic Abuse: Inviting Men to be Part of the Solution

Parting Thoughts

Government of Canada Launches Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

December 8, 2015 – Ottawa, ON – Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

The Government of Canada today announced the launch of a national inquiry to address the high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.  

The Government will immediately begin engaging with survivors, family members and loved ones of victims, as well as National Aboriginal, provincial, and territorial representatives to seek their views on the design and scope of the inquiry. These meetings will be led by the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Status of Women.

In the New Year, meetings will continue across Canada that involve family members and a range of provincial, territorial, justice and front-line workers, as well as Indigenous women’s organizations. The Government of Canada believes that an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls can only be designed after hearing from those directly affected.

A discussion guide has been developed and will soon be available on-line to help focus meetings on this inquiry design process. It highlights important elements and key questions about the inquiry’s potential design. This includes questions about who should conduct the inquiry, the length of the inquiry, who should be heard, and what issues should be considered. Canadians and stakeholders are also encouraged to submit their own answers to these questions in a soon to be launched on-line survey.

At the end of this engagement process, the Government will report back on what has been heard from the participants. The views and ideas expressed by all participants will allow the Government to develop the inquiry, including the mandate, the terms of reference, the format of the Inquiry, and the timeline. (…)

Continued: http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?&nid=1023999 

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NOTICES

The Learning Network, of the Centre for Research & Education on Violence against Women & Children, produces and disseminates quarterly e-newsletters as part of their mandate to mobilize knowledge on violence against women, including sexual and domestic violence, sexual harassment and stalking, and the effects of exposure to domestic violence on children.  Links to additional information and online resources are provided to enhance learning.  Access the 2015 Newsletters on Intersectionality, Femicide, Sexual & Gender-based Harassment, and Intimate Partner Violence in Rainbow Communities here: http://vawlearningnetwork.ca/newsletters. Archived newsletters can also be found at that link, including an issue to Children Exposed to Domestic Violence and Honour our Voices, an online learning module on Children’s Perspectives of Domestic Violence.

Moncton’s Public Safety Advisory Committee will be partnering with the Coalition Against Abuse in Relationships to host an information session on the topic of Sex Worker Safety to educate social service professionals, non-profit service providers, medical & mental health professionals and the general public. Presenter: TL Johannesson, Executive Director, Stepping Stone Association, Halifax. Free and open to the general public. Thursday, December 17 (International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers) from 11:30 – 1:30 pm, in Moncton at the Peace Centre (main auditorium), 22 Church Street. Light lunch provided.  To register or for more information on this free information session please call 506- 855-8525 or email [email protected].

Support to Single Parents Programs, Moncton:

• For the Sake of the Children (free) – 6 hour program (2 parts) that teaches ways to reduce the conflict between parents and also relieve the stress they are experiencing.  Focusing on helping parents help their children.  To register call toll-free 1-888-236-2444.
• Options Programs (free) – Support to Single Parents in partnership with Empathic Life Solutions is pleased to offer Options Women’s and Men’s Groups.  These programs deal with the topic of intimate partner violence with a focus on developing healthy relationships.  For more information, contact Janice Tilley at 506-866-6940 or e-mail [email protected]
• Positive Parenting - Wednesdays, 9:30-11:30 am, starting January 20, $30.
• Changing Patterns for Rebuilding a New You - Thursdays, 10 am-12 pm, starting January 21, $80.
• Parenting Teenagers - Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30 pm, January 26, $30.
• Self Esteem - Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30 pm, starting February 3, $80.
• Assertiveness - Mondays, 9:30-11:30 am, starting February 8, $60.
• Finding the “You” After Separation - Wednesdays, 9:30-11:30 am, starting February 10, $60.
• The Messages of Anger - Tuesdays, 9:30-11:30 am, starting February 16, $30.
• Helping the Family Thrive After Separation - Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30 pm, starting February 23, $30.
• Self Esteem - Wednesdays, 9:30-11:30 am, May, $80.

No one will be refused service if they are unable to pay. Registration begins 3 weeks before start date. Call Nathalie at 506-858-1303 ext. 3301, Email: [email protected]
For more information on programs: www.supporttosingleparents.ca

Support to Single Parents – Annual Soupfest Fundraiser: Tuesday February 9, 2016 (snow date February 10).  $15 (in advance) $20 (at the door). Call Nathalie at 506-858-1303 ext. 3301, [email protected],  www.supporttosingleparents.ca

The Multicultural Association of Fredericton (MCAF) is offering a Lunch and Learn session for Refugee Sponsorship Groups & Volunteers on Culture Shock on Thursday, December 17 from 12:00pm-1:00pm. Where: MCAF, 28 Saunders Street. Please register by 12:00pm on Wednesday by emailing [email protected] or calling (506) 452-0665. Please bring your lunch.

The Province of New Brunswick has opened a toll-free line for New Brunswickers looking to help welcome Syrian refugees: 1-855-444-6554. For more information, go to www.welcomenb.ca and click on Refugee Support.

Family Enrichment is offering the following workshops at 356 Queen Street in Fredericton: 

• Mindfulness & Meditation for Recovering Alcoholics - Mondays 7 to 8 pm. Starts on January 11 - Freewill offering gratefully accepted
• Changing Ways: A Program for Men, in this 10-week program you will learn ways of interacting effectively with everyone in your life! The principles in this program apply to all relationships including those at work - Wednesdays, 6 – 8 pm. Starts on January 13 - Free

For further information, visit www.familyenrichment.ca.  To register please contact Family Enrichment at 506-458-8211 or by email at [email protected].

Current Opportunities to Serve on New Brunswick Agencies, Boards and Commissions (ABCs):   Qualified women and men having the highest personal and professional integrity are invited to serve on New Brunswick Agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs).  For more information, check out the following link:    ABC current opportunities

Voices of New Brunswick Women Consensus-Building Forum – Contact Us: Sartain MacDonald Building, 551 King Street, Suite 103, Fredericton NB E3B 1E7, T. 506.462.5179, 1-844-462-5179, F. 506.462.5069, E. [email protected], www.voixfemmesnb-voiceswomennb.ca.
 

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IN THE NEWS:

Let Hate Go, Says Mother of Montreal Massacre Shooter Marc Lépine

Twenty-six years after her son murdered 14 women in Montreal, Monique Lépine still doesn’t know why.

“Maybe he felt unloved, left aside,” she said of her son Marc Lépine…

During her 90-minute, key-note talk at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre, the 78-year-old woman reflected in a soft-and-calm voice on the abuse she and her children had suffered at the hands of her former husband.

“If you didn’t solve your emotional problems when it was the time, eventually you’re growing, you’re an adult, but emotionally, you’re still at the age of your wound.”

On Dec. 6, 1989, Marc Lépine, 25, armed with a 223-calibre Sturm-Ruger rifle, separated the men from the women in a classroom at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique.

He spoke about his hatred for feminists and went on a shooting rampage, killing 14 women and wounding nine others.

He then shot himself.

Monique Lépine relived that day, repeating for the crowd a story about how she prayed when she heard about the shootings, only to find out the gunman was her son.

“My son killed himself, but I was the one left with all the consequences,” she said.

Seven years after the massacre, her 29-year-old daughter killed herself in a drug overdose, she said, noting her daughter suffered guilt about not having the chance to reconcile with her brother.

Lépine said the following day she realized she had lost what she had dedicated her life to: her children.

“I felt like I was dying of pain and sadness,” she said.

Lépine said she reflected for 17 years after the shooting on the abuse she and her children had suffered at the hands of her former husband.

She said her spouse never paid child support, and never contacted her, even after learning his son was responsible for the Montreal massacre.

Lépine has previously said that her son was beaten severely by his father.

She said she was just starting to feel better when a deadly shooting struck Montreal’s Dawson College in 2006 and the pain returned. (…)

Continued: http://bit.ly/1m4kYNc

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Women are the Victims of Climate Change – and the Keys to Climate Action

Women bear severe gendered impacts of climate change but systematically lack equal representation in decision-making. That’s a problem.

As the nations of the world meet in Paris to address climate change, it is critical that women play a central role in these historic negotiations. Gender equality is central to effective climate action. The world cannot afford to neglect the needs of half the world’s population, nor ignore their talents and potential in innovating solutions.

Structural and cultural disparities make women disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Women are more likely than men to die during and in the aftermath of natural disasters and climate change-related events. For the women who survive, many often lack legal assets and rights to property, which leaves them few resources with which to rebuild their lives. As women travel greater distances to collect essential resources like water, firewood and food to support their families, they are often threatened and abused.

Climate change has also contributed to high levels of displacement and forced migration due to environmental degradation and natural disasters. While migration can be a lifesaving tool for adaptation to climate change, forced migration often perpetuates and worsens the inequalities that women face. When male family members migrate, female members are often left to perform traditional roles as caregivers, in addition to becoming the sole breadwinner. When women must migrate, their economic and physical security is compromised, often leaving them to become targets for human traffickers and smugglers.

The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security recently released a new study that examines climate change as a human rights imperative, global security threat and a pervasive strain on economic stability. The report highlights how women bear severe gendered impacts of climate change – including adverse health, economic, social and physical consequences – but systematically lack equal representation in decision-making. (…)

Continued: http://bit.ly/1NnDwCG

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Domestic Abuse: Inviting Men to be Part of the Solution

When men are mentioned in conversations about domestic violence and other forms of abuse at women’s shelters, it’s often in the context of how much blame they should carry. But one organization in Toronto is making a point of giving men an active part in the process of recovery.

Ernestine’s Women Shelter is inviting men to participate in its candlelight vigil to mark [the] anniversary of the 1989 Montreal Massacre, when 14 women were killed by a gunman. The shelter has also launched a new fundraising campaign that asks women to highlight male role models in their lives. The strategy represents a major change that’s trickling through women’s shelters across the country: the idea that in order to help prevent violence against women, men need to be involved.

“I see a real shift,” said Jill Cunningham, co-director of Ernestine’s. “Men need to be engaged as part of the solutions.”

The exclusion of men from women’s shelters was based on good intentions. Women escaping violence need a safe place to stay and many may be uncomfortable in the presence of men, according to Peter Jaffe, academic director of the Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women and Children.

But keeping men out of the discussion can foster divisiveness, ignorance of the issues and even animosity toward shelters and other groups dedicated to the prevention of violence against women. And men have often felt unsure of how to get involved in the discussion or whether they even should, said Todd Minerson, executive director of White Ribbon, a men’s organization working to stop violence against women.

“Sterotypes have played a role,” Minerson said. “I think also … men haven’t stepped up in a meaningful way as well. There’s been a legitimate skepticism from women’s groups throughout the years.” (…)

Continued:    http://bit.ly/1O3aC6R

Parting Thoughts

“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.”

-Gloria Steinem

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Women's Equality Branch | 551 King Street, Suite A | Fredericton, NB E3B 5H1