Stage at The CORE in Belleville during the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women event.(Photo / Quinte News)
It’s a day when many women and girls, and some men and boys pause to think more deeply about gender roles and especially how men treat women.
Across the nation, the so called “Montreal massacre” is being remembered with hopes high that such a tragedy will never happen again.
On December 6, 1989, a man walked into a Montreal post-secondary institution and gunned down 14 young women.
They were killed simply because he hated women and hated feminists.
Kirsten Farrell of the Three Oaks Foundation which provides shelter and counselling to battered and abused women.(Photo: Quinte News)
Today in Belleville’s The CORE Centre, approximately 100 women, girls, men and boys gathered to mark the massacre.
Kirsten Farrell of the Three Oaks Foundation said a lot of progress had yet to be made to change society to stem the tide of violence against females in our society.
She said news events occurring today shone a bright spotlight on the issue. Today, a Renfrew area man, 60-year-old Basil Borutski was sentenced to 70 years in prison with no chance of parole.
Borutski, who always maintained his innocence, killed three women with whom he’d had relationships. They were all dead within an hour.
Ms. Farrell said she often thought of one local act of violence against women. Kathleen MacVicar was murdered at CFB Trenton in 2001. Her killer has never been found.
“I’ve been amazed and heartened by the persistence of her family, friends, and people in the wider community who continue to press for answers and support each other.”
“To the boys and men in this room, please go home, to school, or to your place of work and talk about this issue and question why certain gender roles continue to be accepted, roles that lead to an acceptance of bloody violence.”
So far this year in Canada, 36 women or girls are known to have been killed at the hands of violent men.
The PECI Senior Drama Class performing at The CORE.(Photo: Quinte News)
Prince Edward Collegiate Institute’s Senior Drama Class performed an original piece, “Pink or Blue” which questioned the way gender roles were taught. It was the second performance of three for the class on this day.
