Activist Hilla Kerner says Christy Clark has done little to address male violence against women

Last June, Premier Christy Clark made a startling revelation.

In an article in the Vancouver Sun, she disclosed that 35 years ago, a stranger pulled her off the sidewalk into the bushes.

She recalled that she was just 13 years old at the time. And when her assailant loosened his grip for a moment, she was able to escape.

“There was no doubt in my mind that he wanted to hurt me,” Clark wrote. “I’ll never know what might have happened.”

It came when high-profile sexual-assault cases were generating a lot of attention across North America.

Clark cited her experience to explain why she was supporting a private member’s bill by Green party MLA Andrew Weaver to require postsecondary institutions to create sexual-assault policies.

“I want women who have never said anything about sexual violence in their lives to know they are not alone,” Clark declared.

While Clark’s comments generated a wave of positive media coverage, they didn’t sit well with Hilla Kerner, spokesperson for Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter.

In a recent phone interview with the Georgia Straight, Kerner said that if Clark were serious about improving women’s safety, the B.C. Liberal government would pay far more attention to male violence.

“She used her personal experience to claim solidarity with women but she has done nothing to actually express solidarity with women,” Kerner claimed. “Even this recent law that the government has been supporting—the requirement for postsecondary institutions to have a policy on sexual assault—the government supported this law because it’s going to cost them nothing. It’s just a way to capitalize on the public support and the public attention that sexual assault gets without actually doing anything.”

When asked what the provincial government should be doing to enhance women’s safety, Kerner said it should be providing core funding for rape crisis centres across the province. According to Kerner, there are about five such centres in B.C. when there should be 50.

“Women who are dealing with sexual assault and other forms of male violence need to have services on demand everywhere,” she insisted. “It’s crucial for women’s safety. It’s crucial for their strategizing. We know that women’s centres and rape crisis centres are really important in terms of advancing women’s equality and liberty.”

Secondly, Kerner said that the premier should embrace a guaranteed livable income to allow all British Columbians to live dignified lives.

She maintained that this is imperative to replace the existing welfare system that keeps so many people poor, including women in abusive situations.

“A guaranteed livable income will allow women to exit prostitution,” Kerner added. “It will protect them from resorting to prostitution to begin with and it will allow women to leave abusive men.”

She praised the B.C. Greens for supporting a guaranteed livable income, noting that this idea will alleviate poverty. And Kerner said that studies in other jurisdictions have shown that this policy is associated with better public health, which saves costs over the long term.

“It costs much less to actually provide people with a livable dignified income that is guaranteed and not to keep people poor,” she stated.

Kerner also recommended that the province relax its charge-approval standard, which she described as having the highest threshold in Canada.

The Crown has a two-part test: it must be in the public interest to lay a charge and there must be a substantial likelihood of conviction.

Kerner said that the “substantial likelihood” condition results in many men not being charged for being violent against women. “In most cases, the Crown will not proceed.”

In addition, Kerner called on police forces to enforce the federal prostitution law, which penalizes men who buy sex.

“When you criminalize men, you reduce trafficking, you reduce underage prostitution,” she said. “Of course, it’s not enough to criminalize men. We have to have a system in place to allow women to exit. When we talk about women who suffer from drug addiction and mental-health problems, we have to have systems in place to support these women.”

As an example, she said that it can take two weeks before women can get into detox, which Kerner felt was too long.

“Every time they announce a new service, it’s usually a phone line that refers you to something that is barely existing,” Kerner said. “Really, this premier has done nothing for women in general, nothing for women’s equality, and, in particular, nothing for women who are victims of male violence.”