‘We haven’t come very far’ — YWCA Toronto and women’s shelters call on government to address root causes of violence against women on Polytechnique massacre anniversary
In a normal year, Sharlene Tygesen would gather with friends and colleagues on Dec. 6 to remember the 14 women who were killed in the Ecole Polytechnique massacre in 1989 and reflect on the misogynistic violence that continues to be perpetrated today.
The day usually brings a mix of anger and sadness, but sharing those feelings with others is often cathartic for Tygesen, the executive director of Ernestine's, a women's shelter in Toronto.
This year, with Dec. 6 memorials happening virtually, Tygesen won't be able to lean on other women for support, which she says she could really use right now.
I want to have hope," she said. But I'll be honest: I'm pissed and I'm tired."
Dec. 6 arrives this year in the midst of a global pandemic that has made life more dangerous for women in abusive relationships and more challenging for the organizations that support them. The Assaulted Women's Helpline, a 24-hour crisis phone line for women experiencing abuse in Ontario, has reported a 400-per-cent increase in calls during the pandemic. A recent survey of women's shelters across Canada, meanwhile, found increases in the frequency and severity of domestic violence during the pandemic.
Locally, the Dec. 6 memorial comes during the van attack trial of Alek Minassian, who in April 2018 killed 10 people - including eight women - and said he was motivated by the misogynistic incel" ideology.
Tygesen said all of it has combined to make her more angry and frustrated this year - with the persistent violence, with sexist trolls on social media, with what feels like a lack of progress.
I don't ever want us to forget that happened (at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal), but we haven't come very far," she said. I'm at a loss. I don't know what more we are supposed to do."
Tygesen is not alone. In a statement released Sunday, YWCA Toronto and a group of Toronto women's shelters, including Ernestine's, called on the public and policy-makers to see the real cost of failing to address violence against women" by connecting the dots between the gender-based violence that occurs every day and high-profile killings like the van attack, April's mass shooting in Portapique, N.S., and the Ecole Polytechnique massacre.
It is easy to write off mass murders as the products of a few violent, disturbed men," the statement reads. But we cannot when there is such strong evidence that mass violence is directly tied to misogyny and domestic violence."
The statement says that violence against women is baked into" societal structures, and is inextricably linked" to systemic racism, poverty and inequality. It calls on governments to address underlying issues that make women more vulnerable, such as the lack of affordable housing, inaccessible child care and insufficient incomes.
We should not have to wait for an attack or a pandemic to invest in safety and dignity."
Nina Gorka, YWCA Toronto's director of shelters, girls and family programs, said that lockdowns and public health recommendations to stay at home may have been necessary to curb the spread of the virus, but they also created conditions for domestic violence to thrive.
Isolation is a gift to an abuser," she said. Any time you remove access and availability to people who are already feeling isolated in the home, you're going to have an increased exposure to violence."
Not only have women in abusive relationships been forced to spend more time with their abusers, but they also haven't had access to many of the outlets where they would normally find relief. Lost incomes and lack of child care may also have increased stress and tension in some households, Gorka said.
There were a whole lot of factors that combined when the pandemic first hit that put women still living with their abuser in a very vulnerable position," said Pamela Cross, legal director at Luke's Place, which provides free legal services to women in or exiting abusive relationships.
Cross said that wait times at Luke's virtual legal clinic have doubled in the last month. So the increase in demand that we saw early in the pandemic hasn't lessened."
Governments should have consulted experts in gender-based violence from the earliest days of the pandemic to try to mitigate the impact of lockdowns and other public health measures on vulnerable women, Cross said.
It's clear from the numbers - not just in Canada, but everywhere in the world - that women have really paid the price for the shelter-at-home protocols," she said.
Cross, like Tygesen, finds solace in being with other people who share her commitment to ending violence against women on Dec. 6. So it's going to feel a bit lonely for me this year."
But she said she hopes that the spotlight shone on gender-based violence by the pandemic will lead to increased political commitment to addressing the roots of the problem, which she described as a longstanding public health crisis.
If this virus goes away, if we get a vaccine, violence against women is still going to be with us," she said. So on Sunday I'm going to be thinking about what more can we all be doing so that a year from now instead of the rate of violence against women having gone up, maybe it's gone down."
THE NUMBERS IN 2020
10%
Average increase in calls to police for domestic disturbances" between March and August 2020, from 17 police services, including Toronto, York and Halton. (Source: Statistics Canada)
12%
Women aged 15 to 24 who reported feeling very or extremely anxious" about the possibility of violence in the home during the pandemic. Eight per cent of Canadians of all ages - 10 per cent of women and 6 per cent of men - reported the same. (Source: Statistics Canada)
52%
Percentage of women's shelters across Canada that said the violence/abuse experienced by the women coming to their shelters was more severe than before the pandemic. (Source: Women's Shelters Canada)
35
The number of women and girls killed in Ontario this year by an intimate partner, family member or as a result of being targeted because of their gender. (Source: Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses)
Brendan Kennedy is a Toronto-based social justice reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @BKennedyStar