Unacceptable Statements by Women and Gender Equality Canada and Prime Minister
Statements issued by Women and Gender Equality Canada (previously known as Status of Women Canada) and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as part of the days of action against violence against women are as scripted and mindless as they are hypocritical. The Prime Minister's perpetual repetition that he and his government champion women's rights, while women's conditions deteriorate as a result of the economic and political policies his government adopts, reveal the need for people's empowerment.
Women and Gender Equality Canada writes: "Achieving a Canada free from gender-based violence requires everyone living in this country to educate themselves and their families and communities on gender-based violence, centre the voices of survivors in our actions and speak up against harmful behaviours."
In
a similar vein, Prime Minister Trudeau writes, "Every day, women,
girls, and gender diverse people across Canada experience violence
because of their gender, gender expression, or perceived gender.
Certain groups, such as Indigenous women and girls, racialized women,
women living in rural and remote communities, people in 2SLGBTQI+
communities, and women with disabilities, are at even greater risk to
experience gender-based violence. This is unacceptable. But together,
we can end the cycle. It is everyone’s responsibility to take
action against gender-based violence regardless of whether it’s
physical, emotional, financial, or sexual violence. Through this
year’s It’s Not Just campaign, the Government of Canada is
raising awareness of the different forms of gender-based violence, and
we’re providing resources so we can all play a role in preventing
it."
Looking into the It's Not Just campaign takes one to a page on the website of Women and Gender Equality Canada titled "Gender-Based Violence: It’s Not Just." It gives this definition of gender-based violence (GBV): "Gender-based violence is any act of violence based on someone’s gender, gender expression, gender identity or perceived gender." The page states that GBV typically falls into these four categories: emotional violence; physical violence; financial violence; and sexual violence, giving examples of each. It gives examples of those who are affected by GBV: young women and girls; black and racialized women; newcomer women to Canada; women with disabilities and so on. Suggestions are given for how to help someone subjected to GBV. The page concludes by saying "It’s not just up to you. Everyone is responsible for helping to end gender-based violence. By taking it seriously, learning to recognize GBV, and apologizing and learning if you say or do something that hurts someone else, you can help prevent and stop GBV." Even the most elementary discussion of what causes the social conditions and social relations that lead to "gender-based violence" is absent from the government's It's Not Just campaign.
The posturing is endless. The Prime Minister adds: "The work to end gender-based violence is far from over. We continue to work with Indigenous families, Survivors, leaders and partners, as well as the provinces and territories, to implement the federal pathway to ending the tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. We will continue our efforts until every person in Canada -- regardless of their sex, gender expression or perceived gender can feel safe and respected."
The emphasis on the "federal pathway" is noteworthy because it is not the same as the pathway the Indigenous peoples and Canadians from coast to coast to coast have come up with "to ending the tragedy of missing and murdered Aboriginal women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people."
To blame harmful behaviours on individuals who don't know better is to deny the material conditions which force everyone to fend for themselves. Today, the conditions have deteriorated to such an extent that the climate of anxiety, tensions and violence is palpable in every sphere of life, with women, children, 2SLGBTQI+ people bearing the brunt of all the problems which plague the society as a result of an economic system and government anti-social offensives which go against their interests.
Statements
such as those issued by Women and Gender Equality Canada
and the Prime Minister are all the more cynical when one considers that
their abstract conception of violence against women, girls and
2SLGBTQI+ people hides the government's warmongering and anti-social
measures which glorify and promote the use of force to settle problems.
The Canadian state cannot be absolved of responsibility for the anarchy
and violence in the society arising from the anti-social offensive
implemented by governments that serve supranational interests like NATO
and the financial oligarchy, not the people.
The "federal pathway" to address missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls is but one example of how the government perpetrates fraud. This pathway claims to uphold culture, health and wellness, human safety and security and justice for Indigenous Peoples. In reality, the RCMP and the courts are brought in to defend corporate interests in the name of rule of law. Violence, abuse and trampling the right to be is their stock in trade.
Meanwhile the housing situation is dire, the foster care system is in urgent need of reform to end discrimination and abuse and so too in all fields of endeavor. The statistics are devastating. Two years ago a CBC investigation found that almost 19,000 times a month women and children are turned away from shelters in Canada.
In the present economic situation in which all working people, and especially women, are bearing the brunt of hardships that deny them the right to housing and food, the direction of the economy must be changed to one which is human-centred. The economic update recently announced by Canada's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister only serves to cover up the precarious situation facing women. The Finance Minister's mantra that living within one's means is a matter of personal choice -- with the example of her family's choice to give up an $11.99 monthly Disney+ streaming subscription -- is beneath contempt. She not only appears to hold Canadians in contempt but she and her government reduce the problems of coping with the material conditions whereby people cannot afford to pay rent, provide food and care for their families to a matter of making frivolous choices.
The
number of women and children seeking help and refuge in the face of
domestic violence continues to rise drastically, well beyond what the
women's centres and shelters are capable of dealing with, or school
teachers and support workers can handle. The conditions show that this
matter must be taken up as a political issue of empowerment which does
not permit the matter of rights to be reduced to charitable acts. It
must be tackled in a manner which vests the decision-making power in
the hands of the working people and ensures that women put themselves
in the front ranks of every fight. Only in this way can they make
certain that their concerns are not put in second place.
It is the people themselves, with women in the forefront, whose militant organizing and refusal to succumb are decisive in affirming rights in practical and concrete ways, including making headway on identifying and ending violence against women.
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 55 - December 6, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmld2022/Articles/D520552.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca