Amid domestic violence increase in Ontario, York Region communities raise flags for Montreal massacre victims

The holidays are a time of increased domestic violence, Yellow Brick House executive director says

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 8, 2022
Lisa Queen

Amid an escalation of domestic violence in Ontario, eight of York Region’s nine municipalities raised flags on Dec. 6 to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

The day is held to honour 14 women killed in the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal and to raise awareness about gender-based violence.

In Ontario, between Nov. 26, 2021 and Nov. 25, 2022, there were 52 women killed in domestic violence murders, a 44 per cent increase during an average year, said Lorris Herenda, executive director of Yellow Brick House. The organization supports abused women in York Region and their children.

There’s been a 53 per cent increase in domestic homicides in Ontario during the pandemic, with victims often trapped at home with their abusers, she said.

The holidays are a time of increased domestic violence, as abusers often blame increased financial and family pressures for assaulting their partners, Herenda said.

“But that’s not the cause of violence. The violence was pre-existing. (It’s about) power and control,” she said.

Georgina, East Gwillimbury, Newmarket, Aurora, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan raised “wrapped in courage” purple flags on Dec. 6.

King Township did not.

“Today, we commemorate the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre where 14 women were killed simply for being women,” Herenda said at Newmarket’s flag-raising, which also included representatives from Sandgate Women’s Shelter of York Region, the Women’s Support Network of York Region and the Women’s Centre of York Region.

The massacre devastated communities across Canada and weighs heavily on people’s minds every Dec. 6, Mayor John Taylor said.

“It’s a day of remembrance, but it’s a reminder that there is gender-based violence occurring daily throughout our country and throughout our communities,” he said.

When gender-based violence ends in something as horrible as Ecole Polytechnique or a moment of crisis in a family, it is the end result of a history of unacceptable gender inequality, Taylor said.

“If we accept in our daily lives, with my son or with boys in schools, that it’s OK to have gender-based language that’s demeaning or derogatory, if we accept that boys will be boys, or things that are occurring in sports that we’ve heard of that are occurring -- that’s the early interventions we have to have, the tough conversations about difficult topics like what is consent, what represents violence,” he said.

“We can’t let boys and men walk around thinking we’re doing great because we didn’t hit anybody. There’s so much more to it, so much more complexity to the violence and language, and what creates the space for these really extreme acts of violence.”

Residents can help push the issue to the forefront by pushing politicians to invest in prevention programs, Herenda said.

“We need to start educating youth about healthy relationships and dating violence so we are breaking that cycle of abuse with young boys and girls understanding what a healthy relationship is,” she said.

“If that’s not demonstrated to them, if that’s not taught to them, then we continue on the same cycle.”

A free, 24-hour crisis line is available at 1-800-263-3247.