Gender-based violence not going away, says advocate

More than 30 years after a gunman rampaged through Montreal's cole Polytechnique, killing 14 women, gender-based violence still haunts communities across Canada, including those on P.E.I.

"It's still important because gender-based violence is still such a terrible, prevalent thing that happens here in our communities, more than ever," said Michelle Jay, a program coordinator with the P.E.I.Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

It's the whole community that is affected.- Michelle Jay

Wednesday is National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, a day parliament uses to remember those who have experienced gender-based violence and the lives lost in the Montreal Massacre.

On the Island, a number of events mark the day, including a candlelight vigilin Charlottetown and a memorial service in Summerside.

The ceremony in Charlottetown also marks the plight of missing and murdered indigenous women and recognizes the 10 women on P.E.I.who have been murdered by someone close to them since 1989, Jay said.

Family members of those Island women come to the ceremony to remember their loved ones, and have the community grieve with them.

"We are not finished with learning how to not violate women," Jay told Laura Chapinin a recent interview onCBC'sIsland Morning.

The COVID pandemic highlighted pressures that brought out more violence, and the data show that reporting is up, said Jay.

"It's certainly not something that's passed."

Healing needs to come from the wider community, she said.

"We expect individuals to heal," said Jay. "It's bigger than that. It's bigger than her, and her perpetrator, the accuser. It's the whole community that is affected."