When it comes to violence against women, things are definitely better than they were 25 years ago but there is still a lot of work to be done.
That’s according to Beth Lyons, the Associate Director of the YWCA Moncton.
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and it marks a 16 day campaign of activism culminating on Human Rights Day, which is December 10th.
The day also marks the beginning of the Rose Campaign which was created in the wake of the Montreal Massacre in 1989, which Lyons says is being modernized this year.
“We’re taking it to social media with the hashtag “Not Okay” and the French is “Pas Correct”, says Lyons. “And what we’re asking folks to do is if they’re sharing statuses that are highlighting the issue of violence against women, sharing statistics around it, they can put that hashtag on there.”
Lyons says the hashtag should also be used to call out any behaviour people see online that normalizes, minimizes or even promotes violence against women and girls.
She says being a strong supporter of victims of violence is the best thing the public can do.
“You don’t always know who’s a survivor of violence. The way you speak is giving them clues to whether or not you’re someone who would believe them, who they could trust to tell their story,” says Lyons. “If we can all strive to be people who can be trusted that’s a real contribution we can make.”
Also a vigil will be held December 6th to honour those women who were killed in the Montreal Massacre as it is the 25th anniversary.
