Vancouver

22nd Annual Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March

12:00pm
Jeudi Février 14 2013

22nd Annual Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March

Thursday Feb 14th
March starts at noon from Carnegie (Main and Hastings)

* Please NOTE that this year the march starts one hour earlier *

The first women’s memorial march was held in 1991 in response to the
murder of a Coast Salish woman on Powell Street in Vancouver. Her name is
not spoken today out of respect for the wishes of her family. Out of this
sense of hopelessness and anger came an annual march on Valentine’s Day to
express compassion, community, and caring for all women in Vancouver’s
Downtown Eastside, Unceded Coast Salish Territories. Twenty two years
later, the women’s memorial march continues to honour the lives of missing
and murdered women.

On Thursday Feb 14th 2013, we will gather at 11 am at the Carnegie
Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Street (corner Hastings, Vancouver)
where family members speak in remembrance. Given space constraints, we ask
the broader public to join us at noon, when the march takes to the streets
and proceeds through the Downtown Eastside, with stops to commemorate
where women were last seen or found; speeches by community activists at
the court house; a healing circle at Oppenheimer Park around 2:30 pm; and
finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall.

Increasing deaths of many vulnerable women from the DTES still leaves
family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming
sense of grief and loss. This year, the Women’s Memorial March occurs in
the context of the provincial missing women’s inquiry, which marginalized
the voices and experiences of DTES residents, Indigenous communities, and
women's groups. Women continue to go missing or be murdered with no action
from any level of government to address these tragedies or the systemic
nature of gendered violence, poverty, racism, or colonialism. We are
calling for a national public inquiry and continue to seek justice
internationally with submissions at the level of the UN.

This event is organized and led by women in the DTES because women –
especially Indigenous women – face physical, mental, emotional, and
spiritual violence on a daily basis. The February 14th Women’s Memorial
March is an opportunity to come together to grieve the loss of our beloved
sisters, remember the women who are still missing, and to dedicate
ourselves to justice.

* SUPPORT THE WOMEN’S MEMORIAL MARCH

There are many ways to support the Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March:

1) Spread the word and join us (all genders welcome) to the Feb 14th
march. We respectfully ask that you please do not bring your banners,
flags, or leaflets as the Women’s Memorial March carries five banners only
to honour the women.

2) Plan a memorial march in your community. Last year, memorial marches
were held in approximately ten other cities and communities. If you are
organizing a memorial march please email us the details at
marlene.george@vancouver.ca and hwalia8@gmail.com so we can maintain
communication, compile the information on our website, and build strength
in our coordinated efforts.

3) If you want to help volunteer (setup, cleanup, serving food etc) on the
day of and can commit to 2-hour shifts between 8 am and 6 pm, please email
hwalia8@gmail.com

Thank you all for your support and commitment,
Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee

Website: http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/
Phone: 604 665 3005
Email: marlene.george@vancouver.ca (Committee Chair Marlene George)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/488831777821558/?fref=ts