TWO EVENTS: MON FEB 13TH and TUES FEB 14TH

Murdered Women, Missing Justice
Monday February 13th from 9:30 am till 2 pm.
Rally outside Sham Inquiry 701 West Georgia (Georgia and Granville)

Every week since the beginning of the Sham Missing Women’s Inquiry, the Women’s Memorial March Committee has been rallying to denounce the disrespect and injustice happening inside. Dozens of DTES, Aboriginal, and Women’s organizations were shut out from participating in the Inquiry. Now we are hearing numerous stories, directly and as reported in the media, of family members outrage and anger and frustration with this inquiry as there are no answers, no apologies, and authorities are just protecting themselves and each other. We invite you all to join us – for five minutes or five hours – on Monday Feb 13th to show your disgust at this coverup sham inquiry and to call instead for for a new fair, just, and inclusive Inquiry that centres the voices and experiences and leadership of women, particularly Indigenous women, in the DTES.

See Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Women’s Memorial March Committee Statement of Non Participation In Sham Inquiry from Oct 2011:
http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/non-participation-sham-inquiry/

followed on Tuesday by…

21st Annual Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March

Web link: http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/236552276421022/
Download poster and distribute it here

The first women’s memorial march was held in 1991 in response to the murder of a Coast Salish woman on Powell Street in Vancouver. Her name is not spoken today out of respect for the wishes of her family. Out of this sense of hopelessness and anger came an annual march on Valentine’s Day to express compassion, community, and caring for all women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Unceded Coast Salish Territories. Twenty one years later, the women’s memorial march continues to honour the lives of missing and murdered women.

On Tuesday Feb 14th 2012, we will gather at noon at the Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Street (corner Hastings, Vancouver) where family members speak in remembrance. Given space constraints, we ask the broader public to join us at 1 pm, when the march takes to the streets and proceeds through the Downtown Eastside, with stops to commemorate where women were last seen or found; speeches by community activists at the police station; a healing circle at Oppenheimer Park around 3 pm; and finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall. Thank you to Buffalo Spirit for the big drum.

Increasing deaths of many vulnerable women from the DTES still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Over 3000 women are known to have gone missing or been murdered in Canada since the 1970s, and annual women’s memorial marches now occur in dozens of communities across these lands.

This year, the Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March occurs in the context of the Sham provincial missing women’s inquiry headed by Wally Oppall, which we are boycotting because we have been shut out from it and it has continued to marginalize the voices and experiences of women from the DTES. Women continue to go missing or be murdered with no action from any level of government to address these tragedies or the systemic nature of gendered violence, poverty, racism, or colonialism. The Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee and DTES Women’s Centre have recently made submissions under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, and are now seeking justice internationally.

This event is organized and led by women in the DTES because women – especially Indigenous women – face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence on a daily basis. The February 14th Women’s Memorial March is an opportunity to come together to grieve the loss of our beloved sisters, remember the women who are still missing, and to dedicate ourselves to justice.

* SUPPORT THE WOMEN’S MEMORIAL MARCH

There are many ways to support the Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March:

1) Spread the word and join us (all genders welcome) to the Feb 14th march. We respectfully ask that you please do not bring your banners, flags, or leaflets as the Women’s Memorial March carries five banners only to honour the women.

2) Plan a memorial march in your community. Last year, memorial marches were held in approximately ten other cities and communities. If you are organizing a memorial march please email us the details at marlene.george@vancouver.ca and hwalia8@gmail.com so we can maintain communication, compile the information on our website, and build strength in our coordinated efforts.

3) Please donate. The February 14th Women’s Memorial March is made possible by organizations and individuals like you. Each year the Memorial March committee must raise funds to pay for such things as hall rental, sound system, food, red & yellow roses, memorial brochures, blankets, posters, candles, tobacco and other expenses. Please make cheques payable to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, and include Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March on the memo line. Mail cheques to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, 302 Columbia St. Vancouver, BC V6A 4J1. All donations over $10 will be gratefully acknowledged with a tax deductible receipt.

Thank you all for your support and commitment,
Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee

Website: http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/
Phone: 604 665 3005
Email: marlene.george@vancouver.ca (Committee Chair Marlene George)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=264380380945 or search “FEBRUARY 14 WOMEN’S MEMORIAL MARCH DTES VANCOUVER”

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS RELEASE UN SUBMISSION DETAILS;
Submission includes urgent appeal about discriminatory conduct of BC Missing Women’s Inquiry

December 14, 2011 Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories– In the past twenty four hours, the positive and much-awaited news has been released that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women initiated a significant official inquiry process into the murders and disappearances of women and girls across Canada in October 2011.

Two women’s groups based in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, a neighbourhood known as the ‘ground zero’ for missing and murdered women, who are mostly Indigenous women, are releasing details of the submissions they made in October 2011 under Article 8 of the Optional Protocol of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

According to Carol Martin who is Nisga’a, a victim services worker at the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, and member of the February 14^th Women’s Memorial March Committee: “All levels of government have failed to understand or take action on those systemic injustices that allowed the unimaginable deaths and disappearances of so many women, disproportionately Indigenous, from the Downtown Eastside for decades. This is why we decided to make our voices heard at the international level.”

The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) and February 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee (WMMC) have been rooted in the Downtown Eastside for the past thirty years and have been raising issues of discrimination based on gender and race, a legacy of colonialism, institutional discrimination, economic marginalization, and the enabling environment for violence against women in Canada’s poorest postal code.

In October 2011 the two organizations made submissions to UN CEDAW in light of the failure of the provincial Missing Women’s Commission of Inquiry. The organizations formally submitted that “The Commission continues the pattern of grave and systemic discrimination against women in the Downtown Eastside which the Commission was supposed to investigate.”

The UN CEDAW Committee has already repeatedly recommended that Canada engage in comprehensive investigation, analysis, and action on the issue of missing and murdered women, especially Indigenous women. But dozens of women’s, DTES, and Indigenous groups have refused to endorse or participate in the provincial government’s current Sham Inquiry. The clear failure of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry demonstrates the critical and urgent need for the international community to take on this task.

Say Marlene George and Lisa Yellow Quill “We as, Aboriginal Women are not just over-represented amongst missing and murdered women. For too long Aboriginal women and girls have been bearing the brunt of all extreme forms of violence while politicians, authorities, and others – even women’s groups – continue to grandstand on this issue. The numbers of murdered and missing women has far exceeded the ‘official’ count of 600 women. The time has now presented itself for a more global look at the ongoing tragedy of Canada’s murdered and missing women. We have inherited a horrendously violent legacy from the colonization of this continent and this country, founded on the creation of hate for Aboriginal women and everything our power and resistance represents.”

The groups also argue that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination stipulate particular guarantees, rights, and freedoms for Indigenous women who are over-represented among missing and murdered women.

“We as Aboriginal women want to know will the Canadian government dismiss or welcome the UN Committee and it’s inquiry? Minister Ambrose has already given contradictory and duplicitous statements attempting to undermine the significance of this issue. We are sick and tired of Canada portraying itself as a champion of human rights given the ongoing legacy of theft of land and resources, impoverishment, and attempted assimilation of Indigenous nations, which is one of the root causes of the displacement of our women,” says Laura Holland from the Wet’suwet’en and Aboriginal Women’s Action Network.

The two organizations are seeking a series of remedies from the UN CEDAW Committee, including the following:

- A UN CEDAW inquiry into the issue of missing and murdered women in the Downtown Eastside which includes a country visit to Canada and specifically to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for a meeting with women residents of the DTES.

- Urging the Committee to outline the downfalls of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry and to clarify that the proceedings of this Commission do not meet the recommendations set out by the Committee in regard to missing and murdered women investigations.

The UN submissions of the DEWC and WMMC were formally supported with letters to the UN by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, PIVOT Legal Society, BC Civil Liberties Association, West Coast LEAF, PACE, WISH, Ending Violence Association, Native Youth Sexual Health Network, and the DTES Neighbourhood Council.

“We have been a witness to the provincial government and federal government’s gross and unconscionable negligence as well as racism and sexism in investigating disappearances and murders of our women. This is representative of the legacy of discrimination, racism, sexism, and colonialism that leads to these tragedies in the first place. We hope that we can attain justice at the international level as we keep educating and mobilizing at the grassroots with all our other front-line groups and communities,” the groups state.

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MEDIA CONTACTS: Marlene George: 604 665 3005; Corinthia Kelly: 778 709 6494; Alice Kendall: 778 322 4594; Harsha Walia: 778 885 0040; Lisa Yellow Quill 604 618 1061;  Mona Woodward 604-697-5662

The DEWC, established in 1978, exists to support and empower women and children living in extreme poverty in the DTES of Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. The Centre is unique, in that it is one of the only safe spaces within the Downtown Eastside specifically and exclusively for women and their children.  It provides practical support to over 300 women and children on a daily basis. The DEWC is also committed to long term systemic change of the realities of poverty, racism, colonization, violence against women, addictions, disability, child apprehension, policing, and more which marks the lives of the women who access our space and services. Many of the women who have gone missing, have been murdered, or are survivors of violence in the DTES have been members of the DEWC.

The February 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee was founded in 1992 when a woman was found murdered on Powell Street. Since then, over the past 20 years, the Committee has organized for justice for missing and murdered women and raised local, national, and international attention on the issue. An annual march on February 14th is led by women in the DTES because women, especially Indigenous women, face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence on a daily basis. Increasing deaths of many vulnerable women from the DTES still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Every year the list of women going missing also increases and we are committed to justice.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Corinthia Kelly: 778 709 6494
Alice Kendall: 778 322 4594
Harsha Walia: 778 885 0040
Carol Martin: 778 322 3069

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Women’s Memorial March Committee Announce Non Participation In Sham Inquiry, Say Will Rally on First Day of Hearings

Monday October 3, Vancouver Coast Salish Territories –Calling the Missing Women’s Commission of Inquiry a “disgrace” and an “insult to women in the Downtown Eastside”, the Coalition of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) and Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee (WMMC) have announced today that they will not be endorsing or participating in the Inquiry.

The Coalition is also announcing a rally at the beginning of the hearings on October 11th, 2011 at 9:30 am in front of at 701 West Georgia. They will be denouncing the Sham Inquiry and will call for a new fair, just, and inclusive Inquiry that centres the voices and experiences and leadership of women, particularly Indigenous women, in the DTES.

“This inquiry has a responsibility to highlight those systemic injustices that allowed the unimaginable deaths and disappearances of so many women from the Downtown Eastside. We have been raising awareness on this issue for over twenty years and demanding an Inquiry for decades, but this Sham Inquiry is flawed and unjust. We cannot endorse it. ” states Carol Martin, victim services worker at the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre.

The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre made the decision to no longer participate in the Sham Inquiry following discussion and votes by its members who are residents of the DTES. “We are sick of this. This Inquiry was supposed to be about a measure of justice for us and the hope that things would change down here, but it is just more of the same injustices,” says Beatrice Starr, who has resided in the Downtown Eastside for 30 years and whose sister and niece were both murdered.

Diane Wood, a member of the Women’s Memorial March Committee says: “We have essentially been shut out from this Sham Inquiry that is actually supposed to be about us and our experiences. It is vital to this Inquiry that the voices of women and the community be front and centre when determining its recommendations. Without a commitment to the participation of women from the Downtown Eastside, the Inquiry is not legitimate and has no credibility.”

According to Lisa Yellow-Quill of the Women’s Memorial March Commitee “We were witness to the system’s gross negligence as well as racism and sexism in investigating these disappearances and murders. It is unconscionable that Christy Clark, Barry Penner, Shirley Bond and the BC Government are demonstrating those same dismissive and discriminatory attitudes today. We want and continue to be committed to a just Inquiry, not a Sham Inquiry.”

States Harsha Walia of the Downtown Eastside Womens’ Centre “It is disgusting that the Vancouver Police Department and the Government of Canada – who are the ones on trial here – will have an army of publically-funded lawyers to defend themselves. Women in the DTES have their own voices and critical information to share, but this Sham Inquiry has shut those voices out and maintained the status-quo of inequality.  This is representative of the very legacy of discrimination, racism, sexism, and colonialism that this Inquiry is supposed to interrogate. We have no faith that anyone or any institution will be held responsible for the deaths and disappearances of women from the DTES

REASONS FOR NON-PARTICIPATION:

The DEWC and WMMC were granted full standing to participate in the evidentiary hearings. In a letter to the Commission, they list the following reasons for their recent decision to not participate in the Sham Inquiry:

- The Commission has created an adversarial structure, which forces women in the Downtown Eastside to rely on lawyers to defend them from rigorous cross examination. This is also highly objectionable as it revictimizes and traumatizes survivors of violence in an Inquiry that provides no support or protection for them.

- Despite creating an inaccessible and cumbersome process that requires lawyers, the BC government has unjustly decided to not grant the resources necessary for legal counsel or support services to ensure that women in the DTES can meaningfully participate in the Missing Women’s Inquiry.  As written in a letter from legal experts in Ontario “The refusal of the Attorney General to fund parties to the Inquiry will result in an unfair and discriminatory hearing process.” Letter in full available here: http://is.gd/3qZUP1

- There is a total disregard for vulnerable witnesses. An application for procedural protection of vulnerable witnesses, including the opportunity to testify through anonymous affidavits, has been opposed by the VPD.  Without anonymity and confidentiality, witnesses will face real or perceived reprisals from the police.

- The police – the VPD, RCMP, and the Police Union – are over-protected in this Inquiry.  The police are armed with well-paid legal teams, embedded police experts from the Peel Division are reviewing legal documents which we have not even seen, and individual police officers are being granted standing in this Inquiry.

- The Commission has not been transparent or fair in its handling of the Inquiry. We object to a series of decisions including the retention of Peel Police as experts to review legal documents, the terms of the disclosure agreement between the Commission and the police, and the withholding of witnesses lists.

- We are boycotting the amicus proposal because it shows an utter lack of respect for the multi-dimensional experiences of those women who are directly impacted in the DTES by suggesting that one or two lawyers will “represent” all of us.  Letter in full available here: http://is.gd/G9L9A1

- The Study commission is not a replacement for full and meaningful participation in the Inquiry. The Study Commission is not an evidentiary hearing; therefore we will not be able to review evidence and cross examine witnesses. At best, the Study Commission will produce yet another report about systemic injustice in the DTES without anyone being held responsible and with no systemic change. Without participation in the evidentiary hearings of the Inquiry, the Study Commission is toothless and we do not endorse it.

The DEWC, established in 1978, exists to support and empower women and children living in extreme poverty in the DTES of Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. The Centre is unique, in that it is one of the only safe spaces within the Downtown Eastside specifically and exclusively for women and their children.  It provides practical support to over 300 women and children on a daily basis. The DEWC are also committed to long term systemic change of the realities of poverty, racism, colonization, violence against women, addictions, disability, child apprehension, policing, and more which marks the lives of the women who access our space and services. Many of the women who have gone missing, have been murdered, or are survivors of violence in the DTES have been members of the DEWC.

The February 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee was founded in 1992 when a woman was found murdered on Powell Street. Since then, over the past 20 years, the Committee has organized for justice for missing and murdered women and raised local, national, and international attention on the issue. An annual march on February 14th is led by women in the DTES because women, especially Indigenous women, face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence on a daily basis. Increasing deaths of many vulnerable women from the DTES still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Every year the list of women going missing also increases and we are committed to justice.

March begins at 4 pm at Victory Square (Cambie and Hastings)
If you are joining us around 5-5:30 pm, find us near Main and Hastings.
We will be ending with a ceremony at Oppenheimer Park.

October 4 is a National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. It is a national day of remembrance, respect, and demands for action. In the DTES, increasing deaths of many vulnerable women – overwhelmingly Indigenous women – still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Every year the list of women going missing or been murdered also increases, most recently with the tragic death of our community member Verna Simard.

We will be marching to demand action on women’s safety. Despite a number of reported sexual assaults and lack of firm commitment to women and youth in one particular church-based DTES shelter, there has been a deafening silence by all levels of government and many organizations. We want safety for women – safety for women from sexual, emotional, mental, and physical violence as well as safety from the daily indignities of poverty.

This is short notice but we hope you will join us
- Women’s Memorial March Committee

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Women’s Memorial March Committee Object to Missing Women’s Commission’s Latest Amicus Proposal

August 5^th 2011  Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories – The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Feb 14^th Women’s Memorial March Committee strongly object to the Missing Women’s Commission latest proposal to retain and fund one or two independent lawyers (amici) to “present the perspectives of the Downtown Eastside community and Aboriginal women.”

The DEWC, established in 1978, exists to support and empower women and children living in extreme poverty in the DTES of Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. The Centre is unique, in that it is one of the only safe spaces within the Downtown Eastside specifically and exclusively for women and their children. We provide practical support to over 300 women and children on a daily basis. We are also committed to long term systemic change of the realities of poverty, racism, colonization, violence against women, addictions, disability, child apprehension, policing, and more which marks the lives of the women who access our space and services. Many of the women who have gone missing or have been murdered were members of the DEWC.

The February 14^th Women’s Memorial March Committee was founded in 1992 when a woman was found murdered on Powell Street. Since then, over the past 20 years, the Committee has organized for justice for missing and murdered women and raised local, national, and international attention on the issue. An annual march on February 14^th is led by women in the DTES because women, especially Indigenous women, face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence on a daily basis. Increasing deaths of many vulnerable women from the DTES still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Every year the list of women going missing also increases and we are committed to justice.

The DEWC and Women’s Memorial March Committee as a formal Coalition with a full grant of standing before the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, is opposed to the proposal regarding an independent lawyer to present all the perspectives of the DTES. Our group was not even contacted by the Commission to see if we were amenable to this proposal, rather it was presented as a “fait accompli” and expressions of interests from lawyers were sought within three days.

The latest proposal is a further slap in our face, which comes in light of the BC government’s decision to shut out participation of DTES, Women’s and Indigenous groups and communities. The purpose of the public inquiry is being whittled away – the adversarial process already makes it highly improbable for vulnerable women to provide their testimonies as they will be subjected to rigorous cross examination by the police’s lawyers. This is highly objectionable as it revictimizes and traumatizes survivors of violence in an Inquiry that is supposed to bring some level of justice for them.

The most recent proposal is an insulting gesture to those grassroots women and communities that have called for a public inquiry for decades.  It tokenizes participation of all the groups granted standing and shows an utter lack of respect for the multi-dimensional experiences of those impacted by suggesting that one or two lawyers will “represent” their interest.  While the Inquiry process has framed us as ‘money-hungry’ groups, the reality is that the police departments have an undisclosed number of lawyers on their legal team, while the entire ‘public interest’ would now be served by 1-2 lawyers. This is an untenable task and fundamentally unfair.

The participation of the DEWC and the Women’s Memorial March Committee in the Commission of Inquiry, the ability to provide instructions, and the ability to access documents will all be negated by this proposal. The effect of the proposal is similar to the revocation of our full grant of standing and the denial of the funding recommendation. These amicus lawyers are not actually legally accountable to any “client” and are not taking instructions from any specific group. Therefore there is no structural guarantee that the voices of women, especially Indigenous women, in the DTES – who are the survivors of these horrors – will be at the centre of this process. Nor will these ‘independent’ lawyers have the capacity to defend and support women who are witnesses and build the same trust relationship with individual women. Finally, given the current wording of the undertakings that have to be signed regarding the confidentiality of legal documents, it is our understanding that we will not even be privy to the details in the legal documents. We believe that these legal documents, particularly all those documents that implicate police and officials, MUST be accessible to and made available for the public to see.

The amicus proposal is an attempt to lend legitimacy to a fundamentally flawed process by having a few lawyers who purportedly serve all our interests. In other cases where amicus models have been used, they are usually to present a single position on a single issue. In this case there are multiple issues and multiple positions. Most importantly, our organizations and women living in the DTES have to be key participants with full standing and representation throughout the process and not become relegated to ‘issues’ that get generalized through an amicus lawyer.

Women in the DTES have their own voices and stories and critical information to share with this Inquiry and have been demanding the space to do so for decades, but this Inquiry no longer facilitates that possibility. The police are armed with well-paid legal teams, and we have recently learnt that embedded police experts are reviewing legal documents which we do not have access to.

The Inquiry thus far has protected the interests of those it is supposed to be investigating – the police. It begs the question – what do the police and officials have to hide and why is the Inquiry serving them? The Commissioner has already recognized that the Inquiry will be unfair without the participation of the groups granted standing and has strongly recommended the funding of the groups. This amicus proposal is clearly not in the interests of the Commission and further compromises its integrity by caving to the provincial government.

We are asking lawyers aligned with us to not engage with the amicus proposal as doing so would lend legitimacy to a corrupted process which increasingly feels like nothing more than a cover-up. Though we have not yet made any final decisions, given the latest developments, DEWC and the Women’s Memorial March Committee are considering what, if any, participation we can have in this Inquiry. This was supposed to be our Inquiry – one that shed light on the crimes and complicity of the police and officials. But it appears there is no justice and no public in this Inquiry and the meaningful participation of women and the community has effectively been denied.

Signed,

The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and the February 14^th Women’s Memorial March Committee

For more information contact Harsha Walia:  hwalia8@gmail.com or call 778 885 0040

Women’s Coalition of the Downtown Eastside is a newly formed network of women-serving organizations and women’s groups in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. Our purpose is to advance women’s issues in the Downtown Eastside and to ensure the safety of women in this neighbourhood as a priority and a necessity.

We envision safety for women in the Downtown Eastside in a holistic manner. It includes safety for women from sexual and physical violence as well as safety from the daily indignities of poverty. We advocate for safe housing, safe services, and safe shelters for all women in the Downtown Eastside.

We observe how most services and spaces in the Downtown Eastside are either for men, or are co-ed spaces which default to men. Women in the Downtown Eastside deserve more choices in services which will meet their
diverse needs and experiences. All groups and services, including co-ed ones, need to embrace a women-centred philosophy and should implement practices that ensure women’s access and safety.

We will serve as a communication and network hub amongst service providers and women’s groups. When appropriate, we will work together to develop joint proposals. We prioritize the participation and engagement of women living in this community to identify how best we can meet their needs.

We are painfully aware of the particular experience of Aboriginal women, over-represented in this low-income neighbourhood and who have been marginalized for far too long. This is most evident in the ongoing tragedy of missing and murdered women in the DTES.

We are inclusive and invite those who share our philosophy of serving women and are working to promote and ensure women’s safety to join us. We invite all individuals and organizations to support the work of our Coalition.

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
WISH Drop-In
DTES Power of Women Group
Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee
YWCA Crabtree Corner
Aboriginal Front Door Society
PACE Society
Battered Women’s Support Services
Inner-City Women’s Initiatives Society/DAMS
Saint James Community Service Society
Atira Women’s Resource Society
Union Gospel Mission

Participant Groups in the Missing Women’s Inquiry Pressure Premier Clark to Ensure Access and Justice

Press Conference on National Aboriginal Day Tuesday June 21 at 9:30 am
Aboriginal Front Door, 384 Main Street (corner Hastings)

June 20, Vancouver Coast Salish Territories – A coalition of Downtown Eastside, women’s, Aboriginal and advocacy organizations are strongly condemning the BC government’s decision to not grant the resources necessary to ensure their meaningful participation in the Missing Women’s Inquiry.

The groups have written a joint letter to Premier Christy Clark, stating that “This denial of resources denies due process and denies the possibility of meaningful participation by the women most affected – particularly Aboriginal women living and working in extreme poverty – by the deaths and disappearances of women who were their friends and family.”

The groups issuing the letter include:
- February 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee and DTES Women’s Centre
- WISH Drop In Centre, PACE Society, and DTES Sex Workers United Against Violence
- Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs and Carrier Sekani Tribal Council
- Women’s Equality and Security Coalition
- West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund and Ending Violence Association of BC
- Pivot Legal Society and BC Civil Liberties Association
 
The groups are holding a press conference on Tuesday June 21st at the Aboriginal Front Door to demand that the provincial government overturn its decision. The groups are calling on Premier Clark to make this Public Inquiry accessible to the public, particularly to women, Downtown Eastside residents, Aboriginal communities, and others who have critical information.  The groups and community have been demanding an inquiry for decades but were consistently ignored, and are now being marginalized and shut out again.

In their letter to Christy Clark, the groups further state that “Without the participation of Downtown Eastside women and the groups granted standing, there is serious doubt cast on the proceedings as they are not representative of the parties involved. What is the benefit of having the RCMP and the VPD rehash what happened solely from their perspective? It is vital to this Inquiry that the voices of women and the community be front and centre when determining its recommendations. It is unconscionable that BC Government is demonstrating the same dismissive attitude as the very institutions being investigated in this Inquiry for the deaths and disappearances of women.”

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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Alice Kendall 604 681 8480 x 223 (Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre)
Kate Gibson 604 436 4594 (Coalition of sex worker serving organizations)
Mona Woodward 778 241 8440 (Feb 14th Women’s Memorial Committee)
Doug King 778 898 6349 (PIVOT Legal Society)
Ann Livingston 604 719 5313 (VANDU)
Terry Teegee 250 562 6279 (Carrier Sekani)
Kasari Grover 604 684 8772 x 212 (West Coast LEAF)
Shelagh Day 604 872 0750 (Women’s Equality and Security Coalition)

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Women’s Memorial March Committee Challenge BC Government’s Decision Regarding Missing Women’s Inquiry

May 24, Vancouver Coast Salish Territories – The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee are strongly condemning the BC government’s decision to not provide funding to support their participation in the Missing Women’s Inquiry.

The Coalition of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee were granted full standing to participate in the evidentiary hearings. Commissioner Wally Oppal further recommended that the provincial government provide funding to 13 applicants, including the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee. This, however, was turned down by the BC government in an announcement made by Attorney General Barry Penner on Thursday May 19, 2011, making the participation of these organizations in the Missing Women’s Inquiry entirely impossible.

“While we support the decision to assist with the legal fees of families of murdered and missing women, we strongly condemn the decision to systematically exclude Downtown Eastside, Women’s, and Indigenous advocacy and service organizations from the Missing Women’s Inquiry,” says Angela Marie MacDougall.

According to Harsha Walia of the Downtown Eastside Womens’ Centre “It is disgusting that the Vancouver Police Department and the Government of Canada – who are the ones on trial here – will have well-paid lawyers and unlimited tax dollars to defend themselves. Meanwhile, voices from the Downtown Eastside, particularly those of Indigenous women, will continue to be deliberately marginalized and shut out.”

“This inquiry has a responsibility to highlight those systemic injustices that allowed the unimaginable deaths and disappearances of so many women from the Downtown Eastside. The membership of organizations and groups like the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee provide the critical context necessary for this Inquiry as we knew the women and their lives and their struggles,” states Marlene George, Chair of the Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee.

“We were witness to the system’s gross negligence as well as racism and sexism in investigating these disappearances and murders,” says Alice Kendall, who has worked at the Downtown Eastside Womens’ Centre since 1996. “While the government has established an inquiry which we have demanded for years, we are seriously questioning the integrity of this Inquiry now for a number of reasons,” she continues.

“We are sick of this. This Inquiry was supposed to be about a measure of justice for us, but it is just more of the same injustices,” says Beatrice Starr, who has resided in the Downtown Eastside for 30 years and whose sister and niece were both murdered.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Marlene George 604-665-3005
Alice Kendall 604 681 8480 x 223
Harsha Walia 778 885 0040
Angela Marie MacDougall 604-808-0507

We have been dismayed by the lack of response by all levels of government about the ongoing violence committed against women in the Downtown Eastside. We have been outraged that all four of our correspondences have been ignored. We have been shocked that our delegation to BC Housing in March 2011 was met with a heavy presence of police and we were shut out from any dialogue on this issue. All this suggests to us that BC Housing as well as city and provincial officials do not consider women’s safety a priority within their funded facilities.

Sexual assaults against women in this neighbourhood are normalized as we have seen with the ongoing tragedy of missing and murdered women. Women should not have to “choose” between the indignity of homelessness and being warehoused in shelters, and the high-risk of assault associated with both. We will not remain silent or complicit and are continuing a grassroots campaign based on three core demands that we believe can and should be met in a timely manner.

We are calling for:

1) A 24 hours low-barrier women-only (includes all self-identified women) drop-in space and shelter in the Downtown Eastside, ideally on Hastings Street between Main and Jackson. The establishment and operation of this service should be done through an accountable process including a transparent call for tenders and in consultation with community organizations and DTES resident women.

2) Housing for homeless women and children with at least 100 new units to be made available immediately.

3) Clear provincial standards for women’s safety in co-ed shelters to be implemented immediately in all existing and new shelters, including but not limited to:

• Women-only facilities in co-ed shelters with adequate women-only beds and services within those spaces.

• Women staff and training for all staff by women’s organizations experienced in issues of sexual and gender violence. Shelter contractors must demonstrate the ability to ensure safety and security for women shelter users and all staff must be able to demonstrate an understanding of gender inequalities that contribute to violence against women.

We are calling on allied groups, communities, and individuals to support us. Please get involved and spread the word!

For more information email project@dewc.ca or call 604 681 8480 x 234.

Website: http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/

* HOW TO SUPPORT:

1) PETITION: Please sign our online petition. We are hoping to gather 5000 signatures in two weeks and need your help to make this happen! Link to petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/DTESsafe/petition.html

2) ENDORSE: If you are a member of a DTES organization, women’s group, social justice collective, community centre, union, or campus group, we request that you please endorse our three demands by emailing hwalia8@gmail.com or calling 778 885 0040.

Our current list of endorsers include: Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, DTES Power of Women Group, WISH Drop-In Centre Society, Walk4Justice, Battered Women’s Support Services, Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House, PACE Society, Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council, Vancouver Status of Women, Oxfam Canada, No One Is Illegal Vancouver, Vancouver Action, Council of Canadians, Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society, Aboriginal Women’s Action Network, West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund, Streams of Justice, Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, Carnegie Community Action Project, Purple Thistle Centre, W2 Community Media Arts Society, Life Skills Centre , Ending Violence Association of BC, Portland Hotel Society, Pivot Legal Society, UBC Centre for Race Autobiography Gender and Age studies, Interfaith Institute for Justice, Peace and Social Movements, Women Against Violence Against Women, Aboriginal Front Door, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Simon Fraser Universtiy Women’s Centre Collective, University of Victoria Women’s Centre Collective, Indigenous Peoples’ Solidarity Movement Ottawa, York University Free Press

3) WRITE-IN: We are requesting that everyone to please send an email along the lines of the below to all of the following people in BC Housing, City Council, MLA’s and MP’s. Email addresses compiled here:

rich.coleman.mla@leg.bc.ca, yourvoice@christyclark.ca, sramsay@bchousing.org, dmcmann@bchousing.org, MMcNeil@bchousing.org, gregor.robertson@vancouver.ca, lranton@vancouver.ca, Ellen.Woodsworth@vancouver.ca, clrcadman@vancouver.ca, clrchow@vancouver.ca, clrdeal@vancouver.ca, clrjang@vancouver.ca, clrlouie@vancouver.ca, clrmeggs@vancouver.ca, clrreimer@vancouver.ca, clrstevenson@vancouver.ca, harry.bloy.mla@leg.bc.ca, stephanie.cadieux.mla@leg.bc.ca, mary.polak.mla@leg.bc.ca, ida.chong.mla@leg.bc.ca, mable.elmore.mla@leg.bc.ca, Jenny.Kwan.MLA@leg.bc.ca, daviel@parl.gc.ca, Davies.D@parl.gc.ca, Dhaliwal.S@parl.gc.ca, Fry.H@parl.gc.ca, Murray.J@parl.gc.ca, Siksay.B@parl.gc.ca, Julian.P@parl.gc.ca, Dosanjh.U@parl.gc.ca

RE: Safe Housing and Safe Services for Women in the DTES

It has come to my attention that for the past two months a coalition has been raising the urgent issue of women’s safety in shelters in the Downtown Eastside. I have been dismayed by the lack of response by all levels of government about the ongoing violence committed against women in the Downtown Eastside. Sexual assaults against women in this neighbourhood in particular are normalized and their safety is not considered of highest priority as we have seen with the ongoing tragedy of missing and murdered women. This would never be acceptable in any other part of town. I support the call for a 24 hours drop-in space and shelter for women in the Downtown Eastside, housing for homeless women and children, and clear protocols to be established within co-ed shelters.

Sincerely,
(NAME, ADDRESS, CONTACT INFO)

* BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

- Open Letter to Mayor Gregor Robertson “Women Respond to Sexual Assaults in Downtown Eastside Church Shelter While Shelter and City of Vancouver Ignore Reports” http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/6390

- Press Release “Women Respond to Comments by Reverend Ric Matthews of First United Church; Reiterate Calls for 24-hour Women’s Shelter and Safe Housing in DTES” http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/6496.

- Press Release “Women’s Action in Downtown Eastside for Women’s Safety” and Open Letter to BC Housing: http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/6692

* SELECTED MEDIA:

- Video of press conference: http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/video/press-conference-women-respond-sexual-assault-dtes-shelter/6484

- Podcast of Vancouver DTES women’s groups shut out of B.C. Housing office: http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/pivot-legal-society/2011/03/vancouver-dtes-womens-groups-shut-out-bc-housing-office

- Women rail against violence in shelters: http://www.theprovince.com/news/assault+protest/4488619/story.html

- Safe Housing, Safe Shelters and Safe Services for Women: http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/story/vancouver-politics-and-service-provision/6707

- More emergency shelter spaces needed for women, Vancouver council hears: http://www.straight.com/article-382418/vancouver/more-emergency-shelter-spaces-needed-women-vancouver-council-hears

- Women’s groups outraged over sexual assault comments: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/03/02/bc-first-united-church-sexual-assaults.html

20th Annual Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March

~ Two weeks of commemoration events starting Jan 30 2011
~ Annual Women’s Memorial March on Monday, February 14 2011.

* Sun Jan 30: Women’s sweatlodge ceremony from 2-6 pm. By the DTES community garden (Hastings between Columbia and Main). Women-only sweat, open to all women. Followed by feast at Aboriginal Front Door (384 Main St)

* Month of Feb – Community Archival Display, 3rd floor Carnegie Centre (Main and Hastings). Carnegie is under construction and the 3rd floor is regrettably not wheel-chair accessible.

* Wed Feb 2 – Women’s Talking Circle at DEWC (302 Columbia) 5 – 8 pm. Dinner served at 5pm. Open to all self-identified women residents of the DTES.

* Thurs Feb 3 – Art Auction Fundraiser at Interurban (1 E. Hastings) from 6 – 9 pm. Music, great food, and of course art and arty things. Some of the artists featured are Garnet Tobacco, Ben Houstie, Laurie Marshall, Esther Rausenberg, Diane Jacobs, the women’s craft group from WISH, and many more.

* Fri Feb 4 – Craft Night at WISH Drop-in 6 pm. Open to members of WISH Drop-in.

* Sat Feb 5: “Women’s Expressions” Art Opening at Interurban (1 E. Hastings) from 4-6 pm with drum group Harmony of Nations and speakers from Women’s Memorial March Committee. Exhibit runs Feb 7th to Feb 12th from 12-5pm.

* Sat Feb 5 – “Honouring Our Women”: Poetry Night, Carnegie Centre (Main and Hastings). 7 pm. Free admission, everyone welcome, free refreshments Sheila Baxter, Dalannah Bowen, Maxine Gadd, Leith Harris, Muriel Marjorie, Shauna Paull, Priscillia Tait, Karenza Wall, M.C. Diane Wood and open mic.

*Mon Feb 7 – “Native Women: Power, Beauty, Resilience” at Aboriginal Front Door (384 Main St) from 2-6 pm. Open event for everyone to attend. Speakers, food, traditional Grandmothers and Mothers will drum.

* Mon Feb 7 – SFU First Nations and Women’s Studies class event. Poetry with Janet Rogers and Joanne Arnott, followed by screening of Finding Dawn. SFU Harbour Centre (515 West Hastings) from 1:30-4:30 pm. Discussion, and refreshments to follow screening.

* Tues Feb 8 – BWSS Women’s Craft Night at DEWC (302 Columbia) 5 – 8 pm. Dinner served at 5pm. Open to all self-identified women residents of the DTES.

* Wed Feb 9 – “Strength, Survival, Sisterhood”: Launch of DTES Power of Women movie, speakers from DTES, screening of “Finding Dawn”. Vivo Media Arts Centre (1965 Main Street). Doors at 6pm. Free and open to all. More information available by clicking here

* Fri Feb 11 – Night of Music at W2 (151 W.Cordova) w/Bitterly Divine, Murray Porter, Faith Nolan, Little Hawk & more. Doors at 7pm. Given limited space, event is for the DTES community only. We invite DTES agencies wishing to reserve free tickets for their members to email us at endingviolence@bwss.org.

* Mon Feb 14 – 20th Annual Womens Memorial March. Noon in Carnegie Theatre for families, friends, and DTES residents, 1 pm march starts at Main and Hastings – all welcome.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first women’s memorial march was held in 1991 in response to the murder of a woman on Powell Street in Vancouver. Her name is not spoken today out of respect for the wishes of her family. Out of this sense of hopelessness and anger came an annual march on Valentine’s Day to express compassion, community, and caring for all women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Coast Salish Territories. Twenty years later, the women’s memorial march continues to honour the lives of missing and murdered women.

In its twentieth year, we are hosting a series of events leading up to the memorial march from Feb 1- Feb 14. These events will include film screenings, educational events, art installations, DTES women’s poetry, a music night, and more to honour the voices of women and women’s leadership in the Downtown Eastside.

On Feb 14th, we will gather at the Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Street (corner Hastings, Vancouver) where family members speak in remembrance. Given space constraints, we ask the broader public to join us at 1 pm, when the march takes to the streets and proceeds through the Downtown Eastside, with stops to commemorate where women were last seen or found; speeches by community activists at the police station; a healing circle at Oppenheimer Park around 3 pm; and finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall. This event is organized and led by women in the DTES because women, especially Indigenous women, face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence on a daily basis.

Increasing deaths of many vulnerable women from the DTES still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Over 3000 women are known to have gone missing or been murdered in Canada since the 1970s. Two years ago, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women issued this statement: “Hundreds of cases involving aboriginal women who have gone missing or been murdered in the past two decades have neither been fully investigated nor attracted priority attention.” The February 14th Women’s Memorial March is an opportunity to come together to grieve the loss of our beloved sisters, remember the women who are still missing, and to dedicate ourselves to justice.

* SUPPORT THE WOMEN’S MEMORIAL MARCH
There are many ways to support the Annual Women’s Memorial March:

1) Join us. Please join us (all genders welcome) to our events and to the Feb 14th march. We respectfully ask that you please do not bring your banners, flags, or leaflets as the Women’s Memorial March carries five banners only to honour the women.

2) Plan a memorial march in your community. We encourage women in other cities and communities to journey and heal together by organizing memorials on this day because women face violence on a daily basis. Last year, memorial marches were held in approximately ten other cities and communities. If you are organizing a memorial march please email us the details at marlene.george@vancouver.ca so we can maintain communication, compile the information on our website, and build strength in our coordinated efforts.

3) Organize an event. If you are a community centre, youth association, union, women’s group, educational institution, Indigenous organization, social justice collective, or artist space in the Lower Mainland and want to host an event during Feb 1-Feb 14, we encourage you to do so and to contact us. We can provide suggestions for speakers or films for your event, and we support a wide spectrum of individuals and groups raising awareness about the issue of missing and murdered women. We are compiling events on our website, so please email us details of your event at hwalia8@gmail.com.

4) Please donate. The February 14th Women’s Memorial March is made possible by organizations and individuals like you. Each year the Memorial March committee must raise funds to pay for such things as hall rental, sound system, food, red & yellow roses, memorial brochures, blankets, posters, candles, tobacco and other expenses. Our donation letter, in full, is here. Please make cheques payable to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, and include Women’s Memorial March on the memo line. Mail cheques to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, 302 Columbia St. Vancouver, BC V6A 4J1. All donations over $10 will be gratefully acknowledged with a tax deductible receipt.

Violence against women is always unacceptable; every life is precious and we must continue to honour and work for justice for murdered and missing women.

Thank you all for your support and commitment,
Women’s Memorial March Committee

Website: http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/
Phone: 604 665 3005
Email: marlene.george@vancouver.ca (Committee Chair Marlene George)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=264380380945 or search “FEBRUARY 14 WOMEN’S MEMORIAL MARCH DTES VANCOUVER”