CFUW board member, Susan Russell laying a rose on the steps of Parliament Hill at the December 6th Rally on Parliament Hill for National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Fourteen Roses in total were laid in commermoration of the women were killed in the 1989 Montreal Massarce. We also took this opportunity to protest the Government of Canada’s continued efforts to abolish the long gun resgitry. CFUW, as a member of the Coalition for Gun Control stands firmly against Bill-19 Ending the Long Gun Registry. Watch the video of the protest here.

OTTAWA (December 6) – Today, the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) remembers Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte and Barbara Klucznick Widajewicz. As we reflect on the lives of these 14 women who were tragically killed in the École Polytechnique massacre 22 years ago, we are reminded that gender based violence is an ongoing reality in Canadian society. We are also called to action – to do all that we can to bring an end to violence against women and girls.

While some important steps have been taken to address gender based violence in Canada, we continue to live in a society where many women experience domestic abuse and sexual assault every day. Some women are more vulnerable to violence, as evidenced by the currently unsolved murders and disappearances of more than 600 Aboriginal women.

This year’s day of remembrance and action is particularly important, as the federal government is now poised to dismantle the long gun registry. The registry, which was part of a response to the École Polytechnique massacre, is an important public safety tool that has contributed to the prevention of gun violence, particularly against women and children.

“CFUW is very disappointed that the Government of Canada has refused to listen to public safety experts and women’s organizations, who have all insisted on keeping the long gun registry”, said Brenda Wallace, CFUW National President. “The government has even refused to allow reasonable amendments, such as restricting certain firearms, and reinstituting the requirement that merchants keep records of sales and check the validity of licenses. If Bill C-19 passes, the Canadian government could be putting many lives at risk”.

CFUW believes that Canada must look for comprehensive solutions to help address the root causes of gender based violence, such as poverty, inequality and misogyny. We must also maintain certain safeguards like the long gun registry that help police remove weapons from dangerous people.

This December 6^th we remember the lives of the 14 young women who were senselessly murdered at Ecole Polytechnique because they were women. We go forward as we continue to fight against the inequality and beliefs that created the violence twenty-two years ago – and the violence that continues to take place against women.

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For more information contact: Robin Jackson, CFUW Executive Director at executivedirector@cfuw.org or 613-234-8221 ext. 102

CFUW is a non-partisan, voluntary, self-funded organization of close to 10,000 women university graduates, students and Associate Members in 112 Clubs across Canada that works to improve the status of women and human rights, education, social justice, and peace. CFUW holds special consultative status with the United Nations (ECOSOC) and belongs to the Education committee of the Canadian Sub-Commission to UNESCO. CFUW is the largest of the 61 affiliates of the International Federation of University Women (IFUW).

Foreign Ministers from over 90 countries, including Canada and the Afghan government will meet in Bonn on December 5^th to discuss three main issues:

• The transition process as military forces transfer responsibility to the Government of Afghanistan for 2014;
• The long-term engagement of the international community in Afghanistan’s future; and
• The political process that should enable long-term stabilization of the country.

With a substantial Taliban presence expected in Bonn, Afghan women are concerned that the conference could legitimize Taliban groups. In late October, a small delegation of Afghan women led by Dr. Massouda Jalal, a former Afghan Minister of Women’s Affairs, and head of the Jalal Foundation visited the International Federation of University Women (IFUW) in Geneva to express their concerns surrounding the Bonn Conference and to ask for the help of IFUW and its 61 National Affiliates in pressuring their national governments to ensure women’s full and active participation.  Dr. Jalal stated that without the strong representation of women, these discussions could result in a loss of the small gains made by women since the Taliban was ousted ten years ago.

Since then access to education for girls has increased significantly and women’s representation in parliament has improved. Under the new Afghan constitution women and men are now seen as legally equal, and the government has taken an important step by ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

In 2009, the government also enacted a law to eliminate violence against women. Yet Afghan women have a long way to go before they reach gender equality.  A United Nations’ report released just last week shows that the Government of Afghanistan has done little to actually enforce the law. In the two years since the law was enacted, the government has only pursued a small percentage of the reported crimes against women, leaving much room for improvement.

Since September, women’s groups in Afghanistan and abroad have repeatedly called on their governments to guarantee women’s full and active participation during the discussions in Bonn and to ensure women’s issues are made a high priority. In making this urgent plea, both IFUW and the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) have invoked the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UN resolution 1325), which calls for the full representation of women in all conflict and peace processes.

While women’s groups are very pleased by the Afghan government’s decision to include 13 women out of its 40 delegates to the conference, if the Afghan government and the international community fail to take a vigorous stand to protect women’s rights at this meeting, and instead, use those gains as a bargaining tool to bring the Taliban into the peace process, it could set women’s rights back ten years.

Taliban insurgents still have a strong presence in a number of provinces and have demonstrated their willingness to limit women’s rights. Female officials from the provinces of Ghazni and Wardak have reported direct threats from the Taliban and fear for their security, as they are prevented from travelling outside of provincial centres.  Gains that have been made in girl’s education have also been almost completely reversed.

“This October marked the 11^th anniversary of UN Resolution 1325. If Canada and other members of the international community allow Afghan women’s voices to be sidelined at the Bonn II conference, it will be yet another failure to implement this important resolution”, said Brenda Wallace, CFUW National President. “It is of vital importance to commit to the full representation of women in the Afghan peace process. Women must play a key role in these discussions, as any decisions made will be pivotal to their future.”

With the conference quickly approaching, other organizations and activists must join in calling on the Government of Canada to implement UN Resolution 1325, and insist that Afghan women’s right be made a priority in Bonn.

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November 25th now marks the beginning of the 16 Days of Action for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ending on December 10th Human Rights Day.

Yesterday a number of events were held in Ottawa, including the launch of the 16 Days of Action Campaign, which took place at Amnesty International Headquarters, as well as the YWCA’s Red Rose Campaign to end violence against women and girls, which involved a breakfast at the Parliamentary Restaurant to engage legislator in a discussion of the connections between poverty, homelessness and violence against women.

Throughout the 16 days there will be actions around the country, as well as internationally aimed at raising public awareness. For example in Ottawa, there will be with a vigil taking place  on  December 6th at Minto Park, to commemorate the women who lost their lives during the Montreal massacre.

This year, the 16 Days Campaign is focusing on ending militarism and violence against women.  Amnesty International has a number of ways for you to take action, including:

• Demanding justice for women victims of sexual violence amidst ongoing armed conflict in Colombia;
• Guaranteeing Afghan women’s rights in talks with the Taleban; and
• Appealing to the political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina to guarantee the rights of survivors of rape

CFUW’s letter:

While sexual and gender based violence in Canada may be dropping, Wente missed the mark with her conclusions in Tuesday’s piece on the surprising news about rape statistics.

Just because there have been improvements (in large part due to growing gender equality thanks to the feminist and human rights movements), does not mean that women’s organizations and feminists should stop advocating on behalf of the many women who experience violence every day.

 Let’s consider some facts: even with a dramatic decline in gendered based violence many women’s shelters across the country still operate at their full capacity, and some even have to turn women away. For example in 2007, an Ottawa shelter had to turn away more than 1,000 women and children fleeing violence. Consider further the fact that Aboriginal women are three times more likely to experience spousal violence than non-Aboriginal women according to Statistics Canada. With over 600 missing or murdered Aboriginal women today, it is quite insulting to imply that the family, friends and organizations advocating for justice are part of a “grievance industry”.

 Without this so called “grievance industry”, which I assume Wente means feminists activists, where would we be today? Perhaps it would still be acceptable to print ads promoting gender based violence as they did in the 50’s. In fact, wasn’t it just a few months ago that an Edmonton based hair salon used images of woman with a blackened eye to promote their services?

Wente is quite right to point out that many rapes go unreported. According to StatsCan, sexual assault is the most under-reported crime, with less than 10% of assaults being reported. If you apply that to Pinker’s stats, than you’d get a number closer to 500 out of 100,000. It may not be 1 in 3, but it is far too many.

 Let’s be sure, it’s great that we have made so much progress, but we can and should continue to do more.

Brenda Wallace, National President of the Canadian Federation of University Women

Regina, SK

CFUW has been an advocate for improving access to affordable housing since the early 1990’s. We are particularly concerned about the gendered impacts of homelessness and poverty. Poverty and lack of affordable housing options can also prevent women from leaving abusive relationships. This is quite troubling as we know that gender based violence continues to affect women and children in Canada. According to a survey from 2004, of the 6,109 women and children residing in shelters across Canada, about 5,000 had escaped an abusive situation representing about three-quarters of all women residing in shelters.[4]

Aboriginal peoples, newcomers, lone parents, women, people living with disabilities, and seniors are all disproportionately affected by housing insecurity. Although there are many persuasive moral and human rights arguments for addressing this glaring reality, it also makes financial sense. It is estimated that Canadians are already paying $1 billion a year for the emergency shelter, health care, and criminal justice costs associated with homelessness. In 2001, the BC Provincial Government published a study which determined that the costs of services for someone that was homeless were 33% higher than for someone who had been homeless and subsequently housed. [5]

We therefore take this opportunity on National Housing Day to renew the call on the federal government to once and for all establish a National Housing and Homelessness Strategy involving the provincial, territorial, municipal and Aboriginal governments.

OTTAWA, November 22, 2011 – The Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) is urging the Government of Canada to support the inclusion of Afghan Women at the upcoming Bonn II Conference and to ensure that women are adequately represented in Canada’s national delegation. On December 5, 2011 Foreign Ministers from over 90 countries will meet with the Afghan Government in Bonn to discuss the future of Afghanistan. There is reason to believe that Afghan women will not be adequately represented at the conference, and that their issues may not be fully addressed.

In making these requests of the Government of Canada, CFUW invokes the principles of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR), which calls for the full representation of women in all discussions aimed at conflict resolution and the development of a just and peaceful civil society. CFUW strongly supports UNSC Resolution 1325 and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Its members believe that their full implementation must be a global priority.

A substantial Taliban presence is expected to attend the conference, and Afghan women remain concerned that the Bonn conference could legitimize the Taliban. This would mean a major setback in the realization of women’s rights in the country. “Women must play a key role in the main discussions at the Bonn II Conference and must not be relegated to a position of secondary input”, said Brenda Wallace, CFUW National President. “It is essential that Afghan women have a strong presence, and that the Government of Canada advocate for their full participation.”

The European Union has taken a strong position on the implementation of Resolution 1325.  Canada also played a lead role in its development.  With this in mind CFUW asks the Government of Canada to pursue the fulfillment of Resolution 1325 and to ensure that Afghan women are full and active participants in the discussions of Afghanistan’s future.

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For more information please contact:

Robin Jackson, CFUW Executive Director

613-234-8353 ext.102 or executivedirector@cfuw.org

CFUW is a non-partisan, voluntary, self-funded organization of close to 10,000 women university graduates, students and Associate Members in 112 Clubs across Canada that works to improve the status of women and human rights, education, social justice, and peace. CFUW holds special consultative status with the United Nations (ECOSOC) and belongs to the Education committee of the Canadian Sub-Commission to UNESCO. CFUW is the largest of the 61 affiliates of the International Federation of University Women (IFUW).

You can download the petition here.

General information on handling the petition:

1.  Print the petition: The attached petition is formatted for  8 x 14″ paper so all 25 signatures can go on one page.   If you must convert it to 8 x 11″, kindly observe the rules for doing so set out here.

2.  Seek out signatures.  They must be clearly written  - for the Clerk won’t certify the petition their office have checked each name against a phone book to ensure each person exists.

3.  Once signed, the Petition should be sent to your Member of Parliament with a request that he or she arrange for certification by the Clerk of Petitions (who checks every name to ensure the person exists) and then that the M.P. present the petition during Routine Proceedings.  You could ask the MP’s assistant to advise you of the date of the petition presentation so that you may find the presentation noted in the Debates and the Journal.

To find names of MPs, go to the centre column here:  http://www.parl.gc.ca/SenatorsMembers.aspx?Language=E

The address for all MPs is House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6

No postage required.

Is your MP required to present your petition?  The rules state:

“Members are not bound to present petitions and cannot be compelled to do so; [53]  nevertheless, it is evident that many Members consider it a duty to present to the House petitions brought forward by citizens. [54]  The Member, whose role it is to make the presentation on behalf of the petitioners, is not required to be in agreement with the content of any petition he or she may choose to present, and no such inference is to be drawn. [55] ”

If your MP won’t present, please ask for the petition to be returned and send it to Mme. Hélène Laverdière, Foreign Affairs Critic for the NDP or to M. Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Critic for the Liberals.  I’m sure either would be happy to assist with the tabling of these petitions.

4.  Note that the Government must respond to each Petition within 45 days of it being presented.   The instructions say:

“ Government responses to petitions are generally tabled in the House during Routine Proceedings, under the rubric “Tabling of Documents”, but may also be deposited with the Clerk. [78]  Petitions receive individual responses. Any Member who has presented a petition is provided with a copy of the response at the time it is tabled. After being tabled in the House, government responses to petitions (unlike the petitions themselves) become sessional papers. [79] ”

On Tuesday Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, Solomon Friedman, a criminal defence lawyer, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and Murray Grismer, a Sergeant from Saskatchewan, all spoke in favour of the Bill, citing the criminalization of long gun owners, the registries inability to prevent crime and errors and inaccuracies of data as reasons for abolishing the registry.

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) was the lone witness speaking against the Bill and reminding the Committee members of the public safety implications – including women and children’s safety and the rights of first responders to a safe workplace.

On Thursday, there were a number of witnesses speaking in support of the Bill while Dr. Wendy Cukier of the Coalition on Gun Control, students from Dawson College and Quebec public security officials spoke against its abolition. Quebec Public Security Minister Robert Dutil asked the government to keep the registry and simply decriminalize non-compliance. At the very least, he argued, the government should remove the clause that calls for the destruction of data because Quebec would like to use it to set up its own registry. ”If the unrestricted long-gun registry saves just one life, we are morally justified to continue our efforts to maintain it,” he said.

CFUW has also submitted a brief to SECU to highlight the gendered impacts of Bill C-19 and hopes to be called as a witness in the coming weeks. In the meantime we will support our fellow allies in promoting gun control, such as the CLC, in any way we can, including writing to all the Conservatives members of the committee that continue to deny the public safety issues at stake, and attending committee meetings to bear witness to the debate.

Template Letter to MPP/MLA/MNA on Bill C-19