A Solemn Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence Against Women

 

God of hope and love,
Today we stand somewhere between peace and joy,
unsure where to find them
in a world where women continue to be subject to violence
because they are women, because they are Indigenous.
Today it is hard for us to imagine the lamb and the lion together,
to know that our hearts will rejoice at the arrival of justice.
And yet we persevere.
We remember, and we persevere.

—an Advent prayer by Sara Stratton, written for the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women and in honour of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

It was 34 years ago today that a misogynistic young man walked int a classroom of engineering students as the Ecole Polytechnique  in Montreal and murdered 14 of them, all women, with an automatic rifle. The perpetrator ordered the men to leave, so this was a chilling, deliberate act of femicide. 

This was half a lifetime ago for me and in 1989 I was father to two young daughters, ages four and two. I participated with colleagues in a hastily organized memorial service and I remember it vividly. We knew that this was not the random act of a madman, and that there needed to be a spiritual response.

This anniversary of the massacre is now recognized as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Year in and year out I've acknowledged this day but I wonder if the collective memory in Canada is fading. In the first years we distributed white ribbons in our worship services and invited folk to wear them during the week but after a time we stopped. 

I do see the Orange the World signs around town, including this one on our front lawn. While violence against women is not forgotten, it is still a scourge.  It's hard to believe that I'm now a grandfather to two girls who are older than our daughters were then and I want them to grow up in a safe and accepting society. 

All these years later this is still a spiritual issue. Perhaps we could each light a candle at a mealtime today and offer Sara Stratton's prayer as our own vigil. 

A group of graffiti artists (all young women) painted orange murals in Zone 18 in Guatemala City in support of UN Women and the UNiTE campaign to End Violence against Women. Photo: UN Women/Carlos Rivera