News release

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Status of Women

The Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women is recognizing the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, Friday, Dec. 6, on the 30th anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at L’École Polytechnique de Montreal.

“On Dec. 6, we remember and honour the women who lost their lives at École Polytechnique, and all women and girls who are impacted by gender-based violence,” said Kelly Regan, Minister responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women. “These young women, full of life and promise, died simply because they were women.”

The commemoration event will be broadcast live Friday on the Status of Women Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/StatusofWomenNS , starting at 9:45 a.m. It will be accessible with American Sign Language interpretation and Communication Access Real-time Translation.

Dalhousie Women in Engineering is hosting a separate commemoration event from 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. at the Richard Murray Design Building, 5257 Morris St., in Halifax.

Women’s Community Space at Dalhousie Legal Aid Service is hosting Not So Silent Vigil, a walk that begins at 5:15 p.m. at the plaza in front of the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Rd.

Quotes:

“Dec. 6 means a lot of different things for many individuals, but for female engineering students it is a time of remembrance, empowerment and purpose. It’s a day to reflect on how far we’ve come, and to honour those who have bravely pushed boundaries, and heroically broken boundaries.”

– Sara Evely, president, Dalhousie Women in Engineering Society

Quick Facts:

  • the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence began on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Nov. 25, and continues through International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10
  • the theme for the 16 Days of Activism is #OurActionsMatter
  • government is investing $9 million in Standing Together to Prevent Domestic Violence, a four-year initiative led by the Nova Scotia Status of Women office
  • Standing Together involves working with community organizations and groups to build a provincial plan to break the harmful cycles of domestic violence and support victims

Additional Resources:

Events are also being organized across Nova Scotia. For more information please visit: https://www.facebook.com/StatusofWomenNS/ and follow Status of Women on Twitter @StatusofWomenNS.

For more information about Standing Together to Prevent Domestic Violence, go to: https://novascotia.ca/standingtogether .