The City of Brantford announced that the city will now recognize Nov. 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Coun. Mandy Samwell presented the motion to Brantford city council during a meeting Nov. 22.
Samwell provided statistics on why violence against women is the biggest gender inequality rights issue for women, girls, and gender diverse individuals.
"1 in 3 women will experience gender-based violence in their lifetime and these numbers increase exponentially for Black, Indigenous, and women of colour. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased barriers to support and services for survivors of gender-based violence and their children," she said.
"Last year, in Ontario, every 13 days a woman or child was killed by a man known to them, with the majority being their current of former intimate partner," she continued.
The City of Brantford held a flag raising ceremony at Harmony Square in Downtown Brantford to recognize the day last week. The flag raised was a Wrapped in Courage Campaign flag raised in recognition that the courage of women alone is not enough: it takes an entire community to end gender based violence. Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis and Natasha Dobler, Nova Vita Domestic Violence Prevention Services executive director, raised the campaign flag.
Dobler spoke on some of the work her team at Nova Vita have been doing which has included a fundraising campaign for Break the Silence on Domestic Violence.
Dobler said she and a number of her coworkers remained silent for one day in solidarity with those who've been silenced because of abusive relationships and looked for people to pledge them and sponsor them on their campaign.
"Today we are breaking the silence literally, breaking the silence with our words, with rasing the flag an it's important," she said.
"We also need to get to the root issue of gender-based violence. We need to address sexism, misogyny, racism, colonization, homophobic, transphobic all of these pieces contribute to gender-based violence. There is a threat to public safety against gender-based violence and thats why we're here today," she added.
Davis also spoke at the event and echoed those statements made by Dobler and spoke on why members of council and Nova Vita wore purple scarves during the ceremony.
"The colour purple in this context it represents the courage it takes a women to leave a relationship that has these components. And so it's a symbol to those women who are trying to make a change in their lives to escape this kind of abuse and that they don't stand alone. We support you," the mayor said.
November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month in Ontario. Nov. 25 launches 16 days of activism against gender-based violence regionally.
Listen to the full CJKS story below: