November 2 marked the beginning of Gender and Genocide week at UTM. The weeklong event focused on bringing awareness to the horrors of genocide, such as gender-based genocide, culture-based genocide, and religious-based genocide. Movie screenings and information boards brought awareness to these horrific acts.
History enables us to see the course of time leading to the present, and through this event we have tried to bring about an awareness of genocide and gender-related issues, said Rida F. Iqbal, a prominent member of UTMs Historical Studies Society.
The Student Centre bustled with noise as students perused information boards set up about the history of mass killings that have taken place across the world. These informative displays were available to students between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the main floor. Movie screenings took place during the same time in a Student Centre boardroom where beverages, pizza, and snacks were also served to those in attendance. Displays and movies included information about the Holocaust and the Cambodian Genocide.
On Thursday, students were invited to attend a keynote address by Holocaust survivor Judy Cohen in the South Building as part of the Women and Gender Studies WGS200 class. Cohen recounted horrifying details of the treatment of people and her own family in Hitlers death camps. The audience gave Cohen a round of applause for her courage in telling her story.
The Historical Studies Society led the event with help from other clubs and organizations, including: OUT@UTM, Amnesty International, the Women’s Center, UTM Red Cross, UTMSU, Women & Gender Studies Program, and the Kurdish Youth Association.
The event aimed to bring awareness to the horrifying and atrocious acts that have taken place across the world in hopes of educating students as well as promoting the notion of erasing hate. The event organizers hope that Gender and Homicide week will help stop mass killings based on gender, race, religion from happening again.
Anyone interested in volunteering with or learning more about the Historical Studies Society can email them at history@utmsu.ca.
