Assaulted women and children’s counsellor/advocate program marks 25 years since an anti-feminist murdered 14 women at École Polytechnique
AWCCA student Elle Gallagher, right, is overcome as she accepts the École Polytechnique award.
Photo: Marc Ragusa/The Dialog
On Monday, Dec. 8 George Brown College’s (GBC) hosted an event that paid respects to a tragic day in Canadian history known as the “Montreal Massacre.” On Dec. 6 1989, a gunman murdered 14 female students in their own school, École Polytechnique, out of his hatred towards women and feminists.
Dec. 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women started in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada. George Brown’s assaulted women and children’s advocate and counsellor’s (AWCAC) program’s students have hosted the event since at GBC 1990.
This year’s slogan was, “25 Years of Remembrance and Action: Make Change Now!” One of the goals was to raise awareness of realities faced by marginalized women every day.
a discussion panel took on issues including sexual harassment, increasing access to means of support and how to go about dealing with violence at schools in ways that empower survivors.
One of the event’s speakers, Farrah Khan, a human rights activist and feminist offered her own perspective on feminism at school:
“There’s of course a huge population of women at a campus; feminism is a part of equity in our lives. We need to challenge the so-called ‘right way’ to be a man or woman,” said Khan. “Events like this are a good way to do that; this is a feminist issue, but it’s an issue that affects everyone. I think what we have to do is come together as a community. We have to accept survivors when they come forward and encourage them to do so.”
Dean of preparatory and liberal studies Georgia Quartaro shared insights on the AWCCA program.
“The assaulted women’s and children’s counsellors and advocates are trained as both, as the name suggests to work with women and children who have experienced violence,” said Quartaro. “It can be domestic, or systemic in terms of poverty, or not even always physically violent. What I really hope people can realize these issues happen to women and children in many different places.”
AWCCA student Elle Gallagher, who won the École Polytechnique bursary, said, “I wrote this essay from the heart. This program has been amazing; I thought I knew a lot, now I see things the way they really are. I intend to bring my focus of feminism and pass it on to my grandkids.”
The students paid tribute to women by lighting a candle and reading the names stories of women who killed in the last year, many of whom were left without justice.
