Women act against violence at Ecole Polytechnique massacre memorial event
Twenty years ago, a man walked into an engineering class at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal and went on a shooting rampage. But this was different from all the other mass murders in Canadian history. In this instance, Marc Lépine separated the women from the men and systematically killed 14 female students before turning the gun on himself.
On Saturday (December 5)—one day before the 20th anniversary of the attack—Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter is holding an all-day event, beginning at 10 a.m. at the south plaza of the Vancouver Public Library’s central branch. It’s designed to educate the public about violence against women.
In an interview with the Georgia Straight at the shelter, one of the organizers of the event, Daisy Kler, pointed out that Lépine left a note listing many prominent Canadian feminists he planned to kill. It included a transition-house worker and the first female firefighter in Quebec. Kler described Lépine’s actions as a political attack on the women’s movement.
“It is very important to understand that the motive was misogyny,” Kler emphasized. “The message was that the women’s movement was very much resented by men and he [Lépine] was an extreme example of that.”
Saturday’s event will go beyond discussion of the massacre and will outline the violence women still face today. It will incorporate feminist-led discussions, speakers, films, art, and a role-playing exercise called “Walk in Her Shoes”. This interactive activity will feature five scenarios showing different women facing violence in their lives. People will be encouraged to walk through the display and learn about the obstacles these women face. Each situation leads participants through the system that a woman would face when trying to leave a violent relationship.
Another event organizer, Louisa Russell, helped create the interactive exercise with the help of transition-house residents, volunteers, and rape-crisis callers. She told the Straight that “Walk in Her Shoes” will show the public how hard it is for B.C. women to leave an abusive situation.
“By the end, we hope people will see how difficult it is for these women to leave successfully,” Russell said, “and that it does become a little easier if you have a group like Vancouver Rape Relief or a women’s group with you through the process.”
Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter takes in more than 120 women and their children each year and has housed more than 3,000 in its 36-year history. It operates as both a transition house for abused women and a rape-crisis centre.
Kler decried the lack of political will to address violence against women and claimed that the public largely supports the preventive measures her organization provides. She stated that “ordinary people” do not know that both Vancouver Rape Relief and Women Against Violence Against Women—the only other rape-crisis centre in the Lower Mainland—do not receive operational funding from the provincial government.
“We see the abysmal response of the B.C. Liberals to issues such as violence against women and funding for lifesaving services like rape-crisis centres and transition houses,” Kler said.
At the December 5 library event, the women who were brutally murdered by Lépine will be remembered on a public stage—a location purposely chosen in order to demonstrate the strength of the women’s movement. With regards to the setting, Kler said, “I think Marc Lépine wanted to close down the doors and opportunities for women and make us fearful and not be so public, and our response is the exact opposite.”
She also claimed that no male leaders stood up and defended feminists after the massacre. “We expect to be defended as feminists, as civil-rights activists, as women who are participating in the struggle and freedom for women,” Kler said. “So we take the library on purpose because it is a public space and we want to be out, loud, and proud as feminists.”
Comments
20 Comments
Bill
Dec 3, 2009 at 6:56am
Although the scales currently tip in favour of men being the perpetrators of violence, we are approaching an age when sex does not matter. Abusive spouses/partners will be an equal opportunity phenomenon.
Peasantwoman
Dec 3, 2009 at 11:11am
Over the past 20 years, the motive of Lepine's act has been buried. Young people now, hearing of the Montreal Massacre, hear that this was the isolated act of a mad mad. It was not. As Rape Relief and other feminist anti-violence organizations know, the motive was misogyny--fear and hatred of women, and specifically feminists. And Bill, you're wrong. When we get to an age when sex (or the attendant training--gender) does not matter, abusive spouses will be unimaginable. Come to the library on Saturday, imagine freedom together.
Mord
Dec 3, 2009 at 12:23pm
I’m still trying to find the line on gender equality when all of the feminist groups are popping up all over the place, yet none are centered towards men. Over several relationships I’ve been in a position of physical violence, verbal and mental abuse, all stemming from feminists that believed themselves the superior gender.
His act might have been misogyny, but if I remember rightly he wasn’t wearing a sign that said ”˜I represent all men’. He was a crazed lunatic with a hatred for a gender. Much like religious wars and various other hate-specified crimes, his actions did not represent anything but his own beliefs.
Sadly his actions were isolated. What’s sadder still is that it’s used as an excuse to verbally return the favor as a sense of righteousness.
John83
Dec 3, 2009 at 12:42pm
The title of the article is a bit misleading. It sounded like there was violence at the memorial event.
Islander
Dec 3, 2009 at 12:52pm
Does nobody even remember this? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32292246/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts "Bitterness toward women tormented gym killer". I was astonished to find that most of the media frenzy focused on this man's pathetic lovelife, rather than his festering resentment for the changing role of women in today's society. And Bill:
Female victims of spousal violence were more than twice as likely to be injured as male victims.
Women were also three times more likely to fear for their life, and twice as likely to be the targets of more than 10 violent episodes.
And, overall, female victims were twice as likely as male victims to be stalked by a previous spouse. Eleven per cent of female victims and six per cent of male victims reported being stalked by a previous boyfriend or girlfriend.
About one third of female murder victims were killed by an intimate.
About 3% of male murder victims were killed by an intimate.
Of all female murder victims, the proportion killed by an intimate declined slightly until 1995 when the proportion began increasing, although it has stabilized recently.
Of male murder victims, the proportion killed by an intimate has dropped.
RCL
Dec 3, 2009 at 12:56pm
I don't think it's fair to say that Bill is "wrong", in that the future that you speak of is utopic: perfect, but improbable.
Secondly, if we were to exist in a society where gender did not exist, groups like the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's shelter would no longer get to decide who or who not to include, and would have to allow trans people (people like Kimberly Nixon) to be involved with their organization.
JacquelineG
Dec 3, 2009 at 1:01pm
Great article exposing the ongoing work of the women's equality movement. I hope bill is PARTIALLY right - that we are approaching an age of equal opportunity...but one where abusive men are no more!
firefox007
Dec 3, 2009 at 1:05pm
The article states that the reason for this crime was "misogyny." Nonsense. The rather obvious reason was paranoid schizophrenia. Such afflicted persons kill a number of people in Canada every year. The reasons that they give are equally meaningless, as they are extremely mentally ill. It's sad that there are women that use this crime every year, to attack all men for something we have not done.
firefox007
Erin_Graham
Dec 3, 2009 at 2:22pm
Good article. this event will make the connections between the deliberate anti-feminism of the Montreal Massacre, and the deliberate sexism of wife assault, rape, sexual harassment, prostitution, and other forms of male violence against women. And, you know what, calling it what it is, 'male violence against women', is just that. Not attacking men, but insisting on accountability. If we understand who is doing what to whom, and why, we are more likely to figure out a way to stop it. Thanks, Shadi, for your article.
Bahtman
Dec 3, 2009 at 2:49pm
Great article raising lots of important issues such as how difficult it is for women to escape violent men, and how incredibly low of a priority life-saving organizations like transition houses are for the provincial government.
@ Mord - if you notice more women's groups then men's groups that's because public space is still largely male-oriented. In the same way that you are arguing that Marc didn't represent all men, surely you must see that the abusive women you have dated hardly represent women, and definitely don't represent feminists.
But that killer does speak to something much more insidious than his own opinion. It's too easy to just say that people like him are psycho - especially when a woman is murdered by her male partner pretty much every week in our lovely democracy. This doesn't mean that women can't or aren't being abusive to men and no feminist I've ever met would say that.
You gotta realize that when the rights of the relatively dis-advantaged are being fought for, all of society benefits, including for us men.
And if you don't find that compelling, then just look at the last 10,000 years + of male domination of society to understand why women's groups are so important.