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CAW donates $100,000 to women's shelters across Canada |
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 The CAW gathers around to present a cheque to Casey Weichert (L), executive director, and Shannon Drainville, community and fund development co-ordinator, of the Women's House Serving Bruce and Grey, at the International Women's Day event Friday (March 4) at the CAW centre in Port Elgin photo courtesy of the CAW | ||||
The Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) is donating $100,000 to 50 women’s shelters across Canada in conjunction with International Women’s Day March 8. In this country, about 50 women are killed each year by their partners or ex-partners. These murders are not isolated tragedies as some may lead us to believe, but are a series of interconnected events. Most are preventable and should cause outrage to the citizens of this country – an outrage that pushes the debate from the personal to the political, demanding government action to improve women’s economic equality. Eradicating violence against women lies in a systemic plan that includes well-funded support and counselling services for women. It includes a justice system that champions their rights rather than turning them once again into victims. It includes access to affordable housing, living wages and a national child care program. It also means access to unemployment benefits and decent pensions, and it means a national campaign aimed at ending violence against women. The CAW believes that like most things in society, this too is about political will. "Our government needs to make ending violence against women a priority. A federal election is pending and we will have the opportunity to put gender-based violence on the political agenda and challenge the politicians and their parties to commit to concrete initiatives to end violence against women. "The CAW is urging women to listen carefully over the next few months as politicians swing into election mode. Review their history and review their parties’ policy and programming efforts to end violence against women. Ask about their policy on Canada’s long gun registry, a national child care program, affordable housing and funding for women’s programs and services. These are all efforts that contribute to ending gender-cased violence." The CAW has made ending violence against women a priority at the bargaining table, but at the same time understands that real change comes with a political commitment to progressive social policy. Ending violence against women is clearly off the lists of priorities for all levels of government. As the casualties continue to mount in workplaces and communities, the government’s reaction has been at the least non-responsive. The scope to which women are experiencing violence in their homes and at work is becoming an increasingly serious issue that impacts not only women but has long term effects on society, that are just beginning to be recognized.
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The
100th anniversary of International Women’s Day must be
more than just another number. "It must be a
call to action. Women are dying at the hands of men, but they are
also clearly dying at the hands of governments. Therefore, we will
continue to challenge all levels of government to commit to concrete
solutions that produce real change for women in this country."
The CAW donations will help, but it is the responsibility of all levels of government to develop initiatives to end violence against women in communities and workplaces. In addition to making an annual donation, the CAW is urging the federal and provincial governments to provide core funding to agencies which provide services to women and their children who are fleeing violent relationships. Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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