Supporters gathered Friday in Trail, B.C., for a march honoring the lives of a mother and registered nurse whose ex-husband is accused of her murder.
“Many women live in fear, walking on eggshells and wondering when the next cruelty will befall them,” Ann Godderis, of the FAIR Society and WINS Transition House, told the crowd remembering Lindsay Danchella.
“Lindsay brought people together in life, but in her death we are connected and united to break the silence and break the cycle,” added Heather Wiley, the victim’s friend.
The event is one of dozens of similar marches, commemorations and vigils organized Friday across Canada to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
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Near downtown Vancouver, a group gathered at a monument in memory of the 14 women killed by a gunman at Montreal’s École Polytechnique 35 years ago.
In New Westminster, shoes were placed on the steps of city hall, each bearing the names of women and girls across the province who lost their lives to violence.
Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of Battered Women’s Support Services, said governments have failed to treat the epidemic of violence against women with the urgency it needs.
“The priority just isn’t there, that half the population just doesn’t matter and our lives don’t matter in the sense of being killed in our homes every day,” she told Global News.
“So far, 20 women have been killed in British Columbia in 2024. There have been more than 160 women killed across the country, specifically because of their gender.
MacDougall and other advocates have worked for years to have femicide – the killing of a woman because of her sex – recognized in the Criminal Code.
MacDougall said that until Canada develops the “political will” to address the root causes of violence against women, commemorations like Friday’s will continue.