The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women Since has been in place since 1989. The Women’s Inter-Church, Council of Canada, (WICC) has offered an annual service every year since. The service focuses on remembering the deaths of those 14 women, but has another message as well, says Patricia Burton-Williams, communications coordinator for WICC. That message, she says, is that there is a, “broader issue of violence against women,” nationally and internationally. Those, “women were killed because they were women,” she says, describing what happened as a terrible symptom of deeply rooted issues that still lie within our society. From her perspective, violence against women can be as small as a snide comment at work, the inability to acquire a job because of being a woman - or in the worst case, extreme violence - such as the massacre at Ecole Polytechnique.
“Women were killed because they were women,” says Patricia Burton-Williams, communications coordinator for WICC -
The ceremony created by WICC is offered for all to use, and it will be the base of a service to be held here in Prince Albert, Dec. 6th at the Calvary United Church (114 25th St. Est.) at 8pm. Reverend Darren Wooff says that while the service is based in Christian thought, it is a service that is open to all people of any or of no particular faith. He also says that an acknowledgement and prayers will be put out for women experiencing violence in all sectors of society.
