Why is it urgent for everyone to address gender-based violence?

It costs lives: in 2022, 184 women and girls in Canada were violently killed, primarily by men. One woman or girl is killed every 48 hours. 

Gender-based violence costs Canadians $7.4 billion to deal with the aftermath of spousal violence alone.

Children who witness violence in the home have twice the rate of psychiatric disorders as children from non-violent homes.

Intimate partner violence can carry over into the workplace, threatening women’s ability to maintain economic independence. More than half (53%) of study respondents who experienced intimate partner violence said that at least one type of abusive act happened at or near their workplace. Almost 40% of those who had experienced abuse said it made it difficult for them to get to work, and 8.5% said that they lost their jobs because of it. 

Each December 6th, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, we come together to commemorate the national tragedy that happened over 30 years ago at École Polytechnique de Montréal, when 14 women were killed simply because they were women. We also reflect on the troubling fact that gender-based violence continues to be a daily reality.

Gender-based violence rates were already at an all-time high, and statistics have proven that the pandemic has led to a dramatic increase.

Rates of violence are disproportionately higher for racialized women, Indigenous women and girls, women with disabilities and women from 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

This violence often has impacts on their physical, sexual and reproductive health. They may experience mental health issues and a reduced ability to participate in social and economic activities, leaving gaps in our workplaces and in our communities. 

The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women takes place on December 6 which falls within November 25 and December 10, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

Now, more than ever we call on you to participate in our #CEIU16Days of activism. Gender-based violence impacts everyone and we all have a role to play in combatting it and taking meaningful action to ensure that tragedies that happen daily - tragedies like l'École Polytechnique de Montréal - never happen again.

It is through our activism that we are able to demand action from the government and we must continue to organize to put an end to gender-based violence.

While this is a time for remembering the lives lost to violence, it is also a time to act.

Please share this message widely, visit our website (www.ceiu-seic.ca/16days) and encourage everyone to take action to stop gender-based violence.

In Solidarity

The CEIU National Women’s Committee