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Shining a Light on Gender Based Violence in Oxford

Thursday, 28 November 2024 06:18

By Marcie Culbert X @marcieculbert

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence officially started on November 25th and will end on December 10th.

OXFORD COUNTY - We are in the midst of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

It officially started on Monday and it will continue until December 10th. Amy Maddess is the Community Development Coordinator for the Domestic Abuse Resource Team (DART) for Oxford County, and she explains the significance behind the 16 Days.

"On November 25th we have the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women which was a couple of days ago, then we have December 10th which is Human Rights Day on the last day. Wedged in the middle there is December 6th which is a day to remember mass casualties that are of a gender-based violence nature (National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women). We usually remember the E'Cole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal."

December 6th is the anniversary of the mass shooting at E'Cole Polytechnique in Montreal that killed 14 women. A vigil will be taking place at the Woodstock Courthouse next Friday.

Maddess says DART Oxford is also participating in the Shine the Light campaign during the 16 days.

"We do this every year but it is usually a little bit quieter. We usually only have a few participants but we have over 40 this year, so hopefully you see some purple lights when you're driving around!"

If you spot someone shining a purple light over the next few days, Maddess says you should take a picture and tag DART Oxford on social media.

Maddess says 60 femicides have been reported across Ontario so far this year, but we're also seeing an increase in awareness campaigns and government funding to address the issue.

Amy Maddess called the Heart FM studio to chat with Dan and Marcie on Wednesday December 27th. You can listen to the full interview below:

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