This month, Women’s History Month, we are highlighting women and events that celebrate and commemorate speaking truth to power.

Speaking Truth to Power

Like many of you, we watched MP Jody Wilson-Raybould testify at a hearing of the Commons justice committee and we were riveted and grateful for her and all women who take personal risks to confront power in their everyday lives, in their communities and at the systemic level.

Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality Maryam Monsef will take on international development as part of her duties. Monsef tweeted,

“I’m excited to take on these new responsibilities complementing the work I do as Minister for Women & Gender Equality…There is still much to do to achieve gender equality here at home and around the world and I’m looking forward to continuing that work – because when women succeed, everyone benefits.”

This June, Minister Monsef is set to speak at Women Deliver 2019 in Vancouver. Billed as the largest conference on gender equality, health rights and wellbeing of girls and women in the 21st century. The goal of conference is to accelerate progress for women and girls everywhere.

We spoke to Mayor and Council on Women Deliver 2019 at Vancouver City Hall on January 28th about Women Deliver. BWSS is part of local organizations called Feminists Deliver who are convening and hosting events that will run parallel to Women Deliver June 3-6. For more information or to join Feminists Deliver email information@feministsdeliver.ca

International Women’s Day 2019

Each year BWSS participates in and hosts a number of special events during the week of International Women’s Day. Check out the events below and join us as we celebrate and commemorate!

BWSS CORE Training

In support of groups, organizations and the community BWSS offers CORE Training through our social enterprise Strategic Interventions. CORE Training is an interactive, five day professional development opportunity for front-line workers, social service providers, community organizers and managers. CORE training is inspiring, highly informing, builds on existing skills and teaches new tools and approaches based on BWSS 40 years of front-line work.

Over the last week, BWSS has provided Women’s Advocate training for members of the the BC Teachers Federation with Day 4 and 5 of training taking place on March 3rd and 4th.

To book CORE training or for more information email endingviolence@bwss.org

International Women’s Day with Andrea Warner and Chicha Restaurant

 

Andrea Warner, author of Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography hosts the Annual Chicha International Women’s Day on Thursday, March 7th starting at 5:30PM. Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director at BWSS will speak at the event with partial proceeds going to BWSS.

Tickets include a reception, beverage, canapés and light snacks and many strong, passionate, innovative, creative, caring female leaders from all backgrounds, industries, disciplines to share their stories, their music, and their positivity and hope for an equal and caring future.

Purchase tickets here.

BWSS Volunteer Recognition Dinner

 

Each year BWSS celebrates our committed, compassionate and wonderful volunteers during the week of International Women’s Day through our volunteer recognition dinner. On March 7th we will gather, inviting our over 100 volunteers, to join us at Federico’s Supper Club for dinner, appreciation, and dancing!

Breakfast Television International Women’s Day Panel

On March 8th, tune into CityTV Vancouver Breakfast Television to catch Angela Marie MacDougall on their International Women’s Day panel.

 

 

 

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre Shelter Opening

On March 8th at 2pm we will join our colleagues at the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre for the opening of their new women’s shelter.

 

 

 

BCTF Women’s Institute Conference

 

March 7-9 BCTF Women’s Institute hosts a conference for women teachers from all over the province at  Pacific Gateway Hotel in Richmond. The conference will facilitate storytelling, creativity, wellness, and learning.

Our Angela Marie MacDougall and Rona Amiri will co-facilitate Consent 101 workshop.This workshop looks at sexual violence within a context, delving deeper into understanding the historical and contemporary social context of sexual violence in Canada while exploring what it takes to build a culture of consent.

And Ileah Snela, Women’s Support Worker and Brooklyn Fowler, Transitions Service Coordinator will represent BWSS during the “Living Library”—a group of inspiring women who are leaders in a variety of fields who would be willing to sit down with other women, tell their stories, share lessons learned in their careers.

Championing Choice & Safety: A Womxn’s World in Three Part

 

Options for Sexual Health and Battered Women Support Services are pleased to partner in the presentation and Canadian premiere of the series ‘Her Story (In Three Parts), a short film anthology by local writer/director/actor Camille Hollett-French.

Join us March 8th 7PM-9PM at the Djavad Mofwfaghian Theatre at the SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts in Vancouver (149 West Hasting St., Vancouver) for the screening and dialogue panels moderated by journalist Charmaine De Silva, the event aims to centre women’s resilience and the role that community supports and services can play in creating safety through choice.

International Transgender Day of Visibility

 

International Transgender Day of Visibility is on March 31st dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination and transmisogyny that they face. BWSS supports, advocates and provides services for Trans, Non-Binary and Two-Spirit survivors of violence. Learn more here.

For more on events happening on International Transgender Day of Visibility follow BWSS on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

 

When She Tells You About the Violence: Training for Family Doctors

1 in 5 women make their first disclosure of violence in an intimate relationship to their general practitioner.

In B.C., an average of 232 women per year are admitted to a B.C. hospital for severe injuries from intimate partner violence.

Violence against girls and women is often not included in discussions of women’s health; it is considered a social issue, not a medical issue. So how do doctors ask their patient if she is experiencing violence from a partner or family member? For general practitioners, this is a tough question to ask, especially if they aren’t sure where to direct their patient to get support.

February 21, 2019 Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director at BWSS presented to second year residents at University of British Columbia Medical School on best practices when supporting victims of abuse and violence in their work. By bridging the gap and giving general practitioners more resources in understanding the dynamics of power and control in violence, assessing risks, safety planning and alleviating women’s isolation by connecting them to support. Because the data shows that when women are connected to support organizations, they and their children are safer.

If you are a general practitioner in B.C. and would like more information on how best to support patients who experience violence click here to download the Violence Training for Family Doctors resource kit.

We are pleased to share tickets are available now for Options for Sexual Health and Battered Women Support Services presentation and world premiere of ‘Her Story (In Three Parts) by Camille Hollett-French which Champions Womxn’s Choice and Safety.

Join us on International Women’s Day, March 8 2019, at the Djavad Mofwfaghian Theatre at 7PM for screenings and dialogue panels moderated by journalist Charmaine De Silva.

Following the screenings an after party meet-and-greet with the cast will take place starting at 9:30PM (additional purchase); further details coming soon.

Each of the films explore issues of choice and safety, abortion, incarceration and sexual violence through the eyes of three young women in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal -view the powerful trailers below.

A Simple Act

 

Hush Little Baby

 

In the Absence of Angels

 

To become a ticket sponsor, email communityengagement@bwss.org

 

 

February 14 Women’s Memorial Marches:

Not forgetting the legacy and honouring through action

 

This year at the Native Youth Sexual Health Network (NYSHN), we continue to participate in February 14 Women’s Memorial March events to remember and honor missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTTQQIA), gender non-conforming people and their families.

At NYSHN we march, gather and ceremony together in spirit with one and other; remembering and honoring ancestors and generations to come.

Despite the stereotype from mainstream media outlets of Indigenous women and communities being “victims only”; Women’s Memorial Marches are a concrete example of what we have been doing and continue to do about stopping and preventing violence.

Coming together in this way is symbolic of us not standing for the loss of family and friends without action and responding together across our different nations.

Read more here.

I joined the February 14th Women’s Memorial March in Downtown Eastside Vancouver in 1998.

At the time, I had just immigrated to Canada. I came escaping from injustice and looking for a safe place to live for me and my family. However, sooner than later, I learned about the real Canadian history and it was very different to the official story that I had been told. I learned about the impact of colonization on the Indigenous people of this land. I witnessed and experienced racism and discrimination. I realized that the history of colonization and its impacts on Indigenous people in Latin America was similar to the impact on Indigenous people in Canada.

I learned that colonization has been the most important form of oppression all over the world as well as the root cause of violence against women.

 

At the time, also I learned that here in Vancouver, there were many women going missing and being murdered in the Downtown Eastside area. I did not know who the women were. I only knew what I heard in the news, where women were objectified and judged. Though, as I connected with women’s groups in Vancouver and joined my first march, I learned that the majority of women who were missing and murdered were indigenous women, racialized women, poor women, sex trade workers, and vulnerable women. Women who became vulnerable because their social location within a hierarchical colonial society.

 

I was shocked to find out the similarities with the missing and murdered women in my home country, Mexico. In Mexico, I used to fight against systemic exploitation, abuse and violence against women. At the time, 1990s many girls and women were going missing and murdered in Ciudad Juarez, which is located in the Mexican border with United States. Many of the women who disappeared were young racialized women, working class and poor women, as well as the majority of these women were factory workers with the “maquiladoras.” The “maquiladoras” were factories that had been established in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico as a part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and as a part of the Mexican border’s industrialization. In 1990s, there was a wave of attacks that left hundreds of girls and women dead over the course of a decade.

 

At the time, I attended demonstrations and forums; I joined international networks to demand the Mexican authorities to investigate and solve this tragedy. However, this issue was never dealt with and rather a second wave of violence against girls and women came up and a higher number of girls and women went missing and murdered. In 1996, I left my country feeling despair and guilt for abandoning my sisters in the struggle.  Back then, I thought that I could not continue witnessing the injustice and that no matter how hard I fought I could not defeat a patriarchal capitalist system that fosters gendered violence.

 

Even thought I left my country, my commitment and my ideals of building a better world have never changed. Since I joined the February 14th Memorial March in 1998, I have been marching every year and every year I march with all my strength and with a deep sadness for every girl and woman who has disappeared, every girl and woman who has experienced sexual violence, every girl and woman who has been murdered and every girl and woman who has resisted.

 

I march because I refuse to be silent. I march for every woman I have worked with, and all of the women who came before me. I march to make sure that I do my part to honor women’s suffering, struggles and strengths.

 

Rosa Elena Arteaga has been working in the anti-violence field for over eighteen years providing crisis intervention and delivering workshops on violence against women and violence against women. For the last ten years she has worked as the Manager of Direct Services and Clinical Practice at BWSS. Rosa Elena is wildly passionate about her work which is framed in a narrative, feminist, anti-oppression, anti-colonial perspective. She is an active agent of change towards eradicating violence against women.

 

Photo credit Linda Yanz

 

Photo translation:  Globalize Solidarity, International Forum Against Violence Against Women in Mexico

 

Evoking presence through their absence is the intention of The REDress Project which is an aesthetic response to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women started in Winnipeg, Manitoba by Métis artist Jaime Black.

Last night, February 12th, at our support group at Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, women reflected on impact of gender violence on themselves and the community and created these Red Dresses.  These artistic designs are also made in preparation for February 14th Women’s Memorial March happening tomorrow on unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories.