The 12 Days of Action for the Elimination of Violence Against Women movement was started by a group of pro-feminist men and young boys in Ontario in 1991 following the massacre at École Polytechnic in Montreal on Dec. 6, 1989 that claimed the lives of 14 women. 

In 1991, parliament designated Dec. 6 as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Every year, in over 60 countries, feminists and pro-feminists wear a white ribbon to commemorate the antifeminist massacre. 

As a part of the 12 Days of Action for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Coalition of Women’s Groups of Haute-Yamaska and Brome-Missisquoi are carrying out an awareness campaign via social media and by setting up kiosks in schools in the two areas from Nov. 25 to Dec. 6. 

The Coalition of Women’s Groups of Haute-Yamaska and Brome-Missisquoi is made up of six different organizations: Maison Alice-Desmarais (Granby), Horizon pour Elle (Cowansville), Centre de femmes Entr’Elles (Granby), Centre Femmes des Cantons (Cowansville), Avante Women's Centre (Bedford), and the Centre d’aide et de lutte contre les agressions à caractère sexuel (CALACS) Des rivières Haute-Yamaska Brome-Missisquoi. 

“We go to high-schools to raise awareness, we talk to the young kids at the high-schools. We distribute white ribbons within the community, within our community organizations, with our partners, we’ve even dropped some off at local stores. We do workshops with women in our shelters and we do collaborative activities with our partners, for example police officers,” said Nadya, whose last name CIDI withheld for security reasons, intervention worker at Maison Horizon Pour Elle, a women’s shelter in Cowansville. 

Every year, the national committee chooses themes so that we can bring out the actualities, certain issues or problems that are present in society that we, working with women, are aware of, said Nadya, but that the general population may not necessarily be aware of. 

This year’s theme for the campaign is "coercive control," a concept that Nadya said is important to work on with women in abusive relationships because it will help them more easily identify the violence or abuse they are experiencing or have experienced in the past. 

“The concept of coercive control offers a clear understanding of the complex dynamics that allow abusers to establish and maintain their control over their spouse, it can also be over their family, or ex-spouse,” she explained. “(…) It involves force, intimidation, threats, to force a response in a person. This is a strategy used by a violent partner. Once the coercive control installs itself in the relationship, the more the woman isn’t really who she is anymore and becomes the spouse’s shadow.”

Nadya emphasized that an abusive relationship doesn’t only involve physical violence, but that it’s much more than that.

“One form of violence that we see in pretty much every single violent relationship is what we call the psychological violence or abuse. In most cases, it’s going to be the first one that is exercised by the ‘aggressor.’ (…) The main types of violence that we see when we work with women are what we call verbal violence, psychological violence, financial violence, physical and sexual violence,” mentioned Nadya. 

According to Nadya, as of November, there have been 21 deaths linked to conjugal violence in Quebec, including one death in Brome-Missisquoi, to date this year. 

“13 of those were femicides. One was a suicidal woman that took her own life because she was in an abusive relationship. Six of those were children and there was actually one man who happened to be the new boyfriend that was killed by the ex-partner,” she noted. 

At Maison Horizon Pour Elle we have the opportunity to accommodate 17 women and their children in the house and our house, more often than not, is full, emphasized Nadya. 

“That’s just the shelter part, we also offer other services. (…) If I look at 2021-2022, I know that Maison Alice-Desmarais sheltered 81 women and we had a chance to shelter 85. Other services that we were able to accommodate were 71 woman, whereas Maison Alice-Desmarais was 134,” added Nadya. “The demand is increasing and it is not going down. Hopefully we can have a positive solution to this situation.”

For more information about the 12 Days of Action for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the Coalition of Women’s Groups of Haute-Yamaska and Brome-Missisquoi, visit the Facebook page.

Listen to the full interview below: