GUELPH – Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis will host a vigil on Dec. 6 at 6:30pm at Marianne’s Park in Guelph to commemorate the 14 women killed at L’École Polytechnique Montréal in 1989 and to honour all women who have lost their lives to femicide.
Women in Crisis has been holding the annual vigil for decades and the urgency has not gone away, officials say.
Over the past year, municipalities across the province have been declaring intimate partner violence epidemics in their regions and on Nov. 28, Guelph council will vote on such a motion.
Officials say the motions speak to the urgency regions across the province are feeling as they work to stem spiking rates of gender-based violence.
In Ontario alone, 52 women died by femicide last year. This year that number rose to 62.
The outdoor gathering on Dec. 6 will mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women to remember those killed and to speak out against violence that continues to take the lives of women in local communities.
Organizers encourage participants to wear purple to show their support for survivors of gender-based violence. The event will be livestreamed on the Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis Facebook page.
Follow the campaign on Instagram and Facebook at @gwwic or find events on at gwwomenincrisis.org/events.
