London marks anniversary of Montreal massacre with calls for action to prevent femicide and violence

A group of Londoners gathered at Victoria Park Tuesday evening to remember the 14 women who were killed in a mass shooting at Montreal's École Polytechnique 33 years ago. 

A candlelight vigil in front of the Women's Monument at the park was followed by speakers calling for more action to address and prevent the rising number of incidents of gender-based violence and femicide in Ontario. 

"The massacre was a wake-up call to Canadians that gendered violence is part of our society and we really need to understand it better," said Barb MacQuarrie of the Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women and Children (CREVAWC). 

On Dec. 6, 1989, a 25-year-old man, who said he hated feminists, shot and killed 14 female students and injured 13 others in broad daylight at the engineering school.

Three years later, it sparked the creation of CREVAWC at Western University, which formed in response to a federal study on violence against women. 

MacQuarrie lived in Montreal and was a few days away from giving birth to her child when the shooting happened. And 33 years later, the shock and agony of that day still lives with her, she said.

"A friend just burst into my apartment and said 'A man has killed a bunch of women and we have to get on the streets and protest'," she said with a heavy voice and tears in her eyes. 

Preventing similar tragedies has become the main focus of her work, MacQuarrie added.

Femicide numbers 'deeply disturbing'

Organizers read aloud the names of 52 women and girls who died as a result of gender-based violence in Ontario over the past year. That number is deeply disturbing, MacQuarrie said.  

"Domestic homicides had been declining, and in the recent years they've started to increase again, so we can think of it as a proxy for what's going on more broadly," she said. 

MacQuarrie and her team started the Neighbours, Friends and Families campaign. It seeks to educate those close to an "at-risk" woman about the signs of intimate partner violence, and how to have conversations that offer support and resources. 

"In almost every case where somebody died, people close to the victim saw or knew something was happening but they either didn't know how serious it was, or didn't know what to do," she said. "It's not easy because we've all been taught to look the other way and mind our own business."

Importance of engaging with men

Tackling the issue of gender-based violence is incomplete without engaging males who are often its perpetrators, according to Tim Smuck, executive director of Changing Ways. His organization aims to disrupt domestic violence by working with men who cause harm. 

"We have to continuously work to protect women and girls in systems that have been fundamentally constructed by patriarchy and are allowing men to continue to perpetuate harm, sometimes without even knowing it," he said. 

Smuck believes it's not just about calling men out, but also getting to the root of the problem by informing men of the risk they pose and how to minimize harm, he said. 

He also called on the province for a solid gender-based violence framework, and to invest funding in early intervention strategies that can prevent incidents of femicide and abuse.

"We have to look at this as a community-wide issue and do it holistically by supporting survivors and putting them first, but also engaging men in their roles."