December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women
The following message was distributed by email to students, staff, and faculty on behalf of the Office of the President.
Dear Members of the Campus Community,
The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, which takes place every year on December 6, marks the anniversary of the murders of 14 young women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1989: 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, and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz.
Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day not only commemorates these young women whose lives ended thirty-three years ago, but also represents an opportunity for our university community and for all Canadians to reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society. It is also a time to consider the women and girls for whom violence is a daily reality, and to remember those who have died as a result of it.
December 6 also falls within the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (November 25–December 10) and the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women’s Purple Ribbon Campaign. The campaign’s 2022 theme is RESTORING COMMUNITY: Hope for Survivors – Help for Abusers – Healing, Accountability, and Equality for All. Everyone is encouraged to wear their purple ribbons to raise awareness about violence against women and children here on PEI, across Canada, and around the world while imagining what true safety for all people, of all genders, can look like.
The Advisory Council on the Status of Women will host its annual Montreal Massacre Memorial Service and Candle Lighting for Victims of Violence—that honours the lives of women that have been lost to violence, and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls—with an in-person event for the general public at Memorial Hall, Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown on Tuesday, December 6 from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm. Masks are recommended. They will also host a Zoom livestream of the Memorial Service (by registration only). Register by calling 902-368-4510 or emailing info@peistatusofwomen.ca.
UPEI will observe the day by lowering the flags in front of Kelley Memorial Building to half-mast.
Regards,
Greg
GREG KEEFE, DVM, MSc, MBA (he/him)
President and Vice-Chancellor (Interim)
