Please come, observe and participate in a free public conference hosted by Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter on December 5th, this Saturday, at the Vancouver Public Library at 350 Georgia.
I've attached a pamphlet with the details of this conference - many of the confirmed guests and times for the events are on it so you can choose where you want to be and when.
20 years ago, Marc Lepine walked into a classroom at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, seperated the men from the women, and murdered 14 women that he considered to be feminists. He was trying to punish women from accessing public space - to remember those women and to resist misogyny and violence, we are taking up the public space of the VPL to host an all day conference that will bring together local and national feminist activists to engage with the issues that most effect women today.
There will be films and discussion, lectures, and roundtables occurring simultaneously. There is also an interactive Walk in Her Shoes, which is like a ‘choose your own adventure’ to help people understand the issues facing women escaping violence. (all the information, choices, and outcomes are based on REAL crisis work). This is particularly innovative and allows ample time for discussion and collective learning. Please call 604.872.8212 to register yourself and a group of friends!
Roundtable Topics include:
• Reinforcing Our Resistance: Fighting the normalization of patriarchy in the forms of cultural relativism, prostitution and religion;
• Red Lights and Stop Signs: Fighting racism through ending the trafficking and prostitution of women;
• Freedoms of Her Own: fighting for political, social, economic, physical autonomy for women;
• Feminists Resist Capitalism, State Power, and Prostitution in the 2010 Games
Lectures include:
• Was it Really “Rape Rape?”
• Tap Dancing on Prison Walls
• Mothers on Trial
• Holding the State Accountable on Violence vs. Women
• Trafficking, Prostitution and Mega-Tourism
• Feminist Media: Changing the Message, Remembering the Motive
• Asian Women Say NO to Prostitution
• Aboriginal Women Fight the Indian Act
Films include:
• Taking the Heat: The First Women Firefighters of New York City (2006)
• The Children We Sacrifice (2000)
• Hookers (2008)
• A Killer’s Paradise (2007)
• Sin by Silence (2009)
you can see the partcipants list on our website wwwrapereliefshelter.bc.ca
The site for the Vancouver local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.
Comments
A Good Idea to Remember the Women Who Were Killed, but ...
I have to disagree with this statement:
He was trying to punish women from accessing public space - to remember those women and to resist misogyny and violence, we are taking up the public space of the VPL to host an all day conference that will bring together local and national feminist activists to engage with the issues that most effect women today.
While I in no way condone the actions of the killer, it should be noted that what triggered his rampage was the fact that he had worked hard enough in his undergrad studies to earn the grades that would have permitted him to enter the school's engineering program the year before, he was denied access because women students with lower marks than his were accepted as part of an affirmative action program. He perceived an injustice and, in his disturbed mind, decided to take out his rage on the women who took his place. A more rational person might have pressed for the creation of a more fair system (hire more professors, enlarge class sizes, etc.), rather than taking a system that had been unfair toward women and turning it around so that it became one unfair toward men. Such a solution would cost money, but it would have been fair and likely would have prevented this tragedy from happening.
No where in any of the evidence from the case does it state that his aim was to prevent women from taking up public space.
And according to the police, the lead investigator of the case stated in a CBC documentary about the incident that it was one that can never be predicted and, as such, there is nothing anyone can do to prevent it from happening again in future. I'd have to disagree with that. Perceived injustices are often found to be motivation enough to murder. It is simply sound policy-making practice to look for ways to reduce them.
Again, though, I do not mean to excuse or endorse Lepine's actions on that day. They were mysigonist, hateful and insane. My intention here is to clarify why Lepine thought he felt justified in committing his crime.