What have I (not) done about violence against women in the last five years? Why have men done the shit they have done to so many women in my town, country, community? What do I mean by community? Probably, schools that I have attended, Toronto, Ottawa and places I have lived. What kind of violence? The abuse ranges from strange men attacking in dark alleys to, the much more common, parter abuse.What brought out the pain? Not numbers. But rather, some songs, some spoken word pieces and lots of names and stories of women killed. And the names of the perpetrators of violence, all too often husbands and boy"friends"...The other thing that brought out the pain was the lack of talk about women and equity in the federal election and in media. Feminism as a term and movement has fallen to the side in our efforts to mainstream environmental and social change. Maybe the particular struggles of women for self-ness and safety can ground wider struggles for environmental and social equity/sustainability/justice. Just a few thoughts that brought out tears and hope this past weekend.
