The UTM Women’s Centre, in cooperation with UTM Campus Police, Green Dot, UTMSU and ULife, held a memorial on Friday in the Student Centre in honour of the 14 women who lost their lives in the 1989 shooting at l’École Polytechnique in Montreal.
November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The UTM Women’s Centre, a resource centre that supports equality on campus, recognizes these acts of aggression in the hope of preventing future violence against women. The female victims in both these crimes were targeted because of their sex.
The event featured guest speakers Amy Mullin (UTM’s vice-principal academic and dean), professor Joan Simalcik, a representative of the UTM Campus Police, and Ruba El-Kadri (UTMSU’s VP Equity).
The goal of the memorial was to educate the community and raise awareness about violence against women. Instead of illustrating that women are the only ones subject to violence, the event emphasized that we are all affected by violence. Although this was a Women’s Centre event, both males and females were welcome.
Many people wore a white ribbon at the event to support the UTM Women’s Centre’s movement to eliminate violence against women.
“Even though the event is a memorial, we would like to also move in a positive direction from this issue,” said Synthia Truong, the advertisement and promotions coordinator of UTMWC. “The purpose of the annual event is to remember, reflect, and move forward towards making a change.”
