32nd Annual February 14 Women’s Memorial March

Unceded xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Səlil̓wətaʔɬ territories.

Tuesday February 14, 2023 from 10 am until 5 pm.

Family & community gather at 10 am at Main & Hastings. Family members speak in remembrance.

March for public starts at 12 pm from Carnegie (Main and Hastings) until 4 pm. All are welcome as the march takes to the streets and proceeds through the Downtown Eastside. We make many stops to commemorate where women were last seen or found.

Speeches by community members are made at around 2 pm, followed by a healing circle at Oppenheimer Park around 3:30 pm.

Community feast for all at Japanese Language Hall (487 Alexander Street) from 4-5 pm.

COVID protocols in effect: masks provided, and social distancing required. The march will also be livestreamed on youtube and facebook, more information to follow.

RSVP and share on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/5559478237496049

Please volunteer to support the march. We need approximately 84 volunteers (all genders welcome): https://signup.com/go/AXMcnTp

The first women’s memorial march was held in 1992 in response to the murder of a woman on Powell Street in Vancouver. 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 on unceded Coast Salish territories.

The memorial march continues to honour the lives of our beloved sisters in the Downtown Eastside, and all women’s and gender-diverse peoples’ lives lost in the Downtown Eastside. Increasing deaths of many women and gender-diverse people from the DTES still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Indigenous women, girls, two spirit and trans people disproportionately continue to go missing or be murdered with minimal to no action to address these tragedies or the systemic nature of gendered violence, poverty, racism, or colonialism.

This event is organized and led by Indigenous women in the DTES because women – especially Indigenous women, girls, two spirit and trans people – 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 and MMIWG2S+ relatives in the Downtown Eastside, remember the women who are still missing, and to dedicate ourselves to justice.

SUPPORT THE MEMORIAL MARCH

There are many ways to support the Memorial March:

1) ATTEND: Spread the word and join us (all genders welcome) to the Feb 14th march. We respectfully ask that you please do not bring your agency or group banners, flags, or leaflets as the march only carries signage remembering our sisters. Signs to honour womens’ lives are welcome.

2) KNOW THE PROTOCOL: In a good way, we want to inform everyone about the protocol the march that has been in place for three decades:

• At 10 am, there will be a family and community remembrance at Main and Hastings.
• At noon, the elders and family members make a circle at Main and Hastings for the prayer circle and then the march proceeds.
• Women elders carrying medicines are at the front, followed by all women elders and family members and women drummers. The quilt made by loved ones in the DTES community is carried behind the family members and drummers.
• Everyone is invited to follow. We ask that you leave your organizational banners at home, signs honouring women’s lives are welcome.
• The march makes a number of stops along the way for ceremony to honour where women were last seen or found.
• At approximately 2 pm we stop again at Main and Hastings for speeches by community members, followed by a healing circle and drummers at Oppenheimer Park around 3 pm, and finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall from 4-5 pm.

3) VOLUNTEER: Please volunteer to support the march with setup, cleanup and more. We need approximately 84 volunteers (all genders welcome). Volunteers can sign up here: https://signup.com/go/AXMcnTp

4) DONATE: The march is made possible by organizations and individuals like you. This year we need to raise $10,000. Please donate online https://dewc.ca/donate-online and in the question “Where would you like to give?” please specify the Women’s Memorial March.” Or 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: https://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womensmemorialmarch/

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Carol Martin: 236-512-4511

Evenlyne Youngchief: 778-888-1687

For French media, contact Mebrat Beyene: 604-836-6464

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31st Annual Women’s Memorial March

31st Annual February 14 Women’s Memorial March

Monday February 14, 2022 from 10:30 am until 5 pm
Family & community gather at 10:30 am at Main & Hastings
March for public starts at 12 pm from Carnegie (Main and Hastings)

Unceded xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Səlil̓wətaʔɬ territories.

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On Monday February 14, we will gather at 10:30 am at Main and Hastings where family members will speak in remembrance. At noon, 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 members are made again at Main and Hastings around 2 pm, followed by a healing circle at Oppenheimer Park around 3 pm; and finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall from 4-5 pm. COVID protocols in effect: masks provided, and social distancing required.

RSVP and share on Facebook here: https://fb.me/e/2YP2M6VMS

Click here for the poster to download, and click here for the flyer for download.

memorial-march-poster-2022-1Download

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memorial-march-flyer-2022Download

The first women’s memorial march was held in 1992 in response to the murder of a woman on Powell Street in Vancouver. 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 on unceded Coast Salish territories.

The memorial march continues to honour the lives of missing and murdered women, and all women’s and gender-diverse peoples’ lives lost in the Downtown Eastside. Increasing deaths of many women and gender-diverse people from the DTES still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Indigenous women, girls, two spirit and trans people disproportionately continue to go missing or be murdered with minimal to no action to address these tragedies or the systemic nature of gendered violence, poverty, racism, or colonialism.

This event is organized and led by women in the DTES because women – especially Indigenous women, girls, two spirit and trans people – 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 MEMORIAL MARCH

There are many ways to support the Memorial March:

1) ATTEND: Spread the word and join us (all genders welcome) to the Feb 14th march. We respectfully ask that you please do not bring your agency or group banners, flags, or leaflets as the march only carries signage remembering our sisters. Signs to honour womens’ lives are welcome.

2) KNOW THE PROTOCOL: In a good way, we want to inform everyone about the protocol the march that has been in place for three decades:

• At 10:30 am, there will be a family and community remembrance at Main and Hastings.

• At noon, the elders and family members make a circle at Main and Hastings for the prayer circle and then the march proceeds.

• Women elders carrying medicines are at the front, followed by all women elders and family members and women drummers. The quilt made by loved ones in the DTES community is carried behind the family members and drummers.

• Everyone is invited to follow. We ask that you leave your organizational banners at home, signs honouring women’s lives are welcome.

• The march makes a numbers of stops along the way for ceremony to honour where women were last seen or found. Only authorized photography is permitted at the ceremonies.

• At approximately 2 pm we stop again at Main and Hastings for speeches by community members, followed by a healing circle and drummers at Oppenheimer Park around 3 pm, and finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall from 4-5 pm.

3) VOLUNTEER: Please volunteer to support the march with setup, cleanup and more. We need approximately 55 volunteers (all genders welcome). Volunteers can sign up here: https://signup.com/go/YgomSGW

4) DONATE: The march is made possible by organizations and individuals like you. This year we need to raise $10,000. Please donate online https://dewc.ca/donate-online and in the question “Where would you like to give?” please specify the Women’s Memorial March.” Or 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: https://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womensmemorialmarch/

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29th Annual Feb 14 Women’s Memorial March

29th ANNUAL FEB 14 WOMEN’S MEMORIAL MARCH

Friday Feb 14th, 2020
Family and community members gather in remembrance at 10:30 am
March starts at 12 pm from Carnegie (Main and Hastings)
Unceded xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) territories.

Click here for the Memorial march flyer 2020 to download, and click here for Memorial march poster 2020 for download

The first women’s memorial march was held in 1992 in response to the murder of a woman on Powell Street in Vancouver. 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.

The women’s memorial march continues to honour the lives of missing and murdered women and all women’s lives lost in the Downtown Eastside. 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. Indigenous women disproportionately continue to go missing or be murdered with minimal to no action to address these tragedies or the systemic nature of gendered violence, poverty, racism, or colonialism.

On Friday Feb 14th 2020, we will gather at 10:30 am 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 noon, 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 Main and Hastings; a healing circle at Oppenheimer Park around 2:30 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. 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) ATTEND: Spread the word and join us (all genders welcome) to the Feb 14th march. We respectfully ask that you please do not bring your agency or group banners, flags, or leaflets as the Women’s Memorial March carries five banners only to honour the women. Sign honouring womens lives are welcome.

2) KNOW THE PROTOCOL: In a good way, we want to inform everyone about the protocol the march that has been in place for 28 years:

At 10:30 am there will a family and community remembrance in the Carnegie Theatre. This is not open to media or the broader public.

The media and broader public begins gathering at approximately 11:30 in front of Main and Hastings where territorial elders welcome us. At noon the elders and family members exit from the Carnegie Theatre and everyone is asked to make a circle at Main and Hastings for the prayer. The march proceeds at noon only when elders and family members have exited the Theatre and after the prayer circle.

The March is organized and led by women. Women elders carrying medicines are at the front, followed by all women elders and family members and women drummers. The quilt made by loved ones in the DTES community is carried behind the family members and drummers. Everyone is invited to follow. We ask that you leave your organizational banners at home, signs honouring women’s lives are welcome.

The march makes a numbers of stops along the way for ceremony to honour where women were last seen or found. There is no photography of the ceremonies. At approximately 2 pm we stop again at Main and Hastings for speeches by community activists, followed by a healing circle and drummers at Oppenheimer Park around 3 pm, and finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall.

3) VOLUNTEER: Please volunteer to support the march with setup, cleanup and more. We need approximately 50 volunteers. Volunteers can sign up here: http://signup.com/go/QowVVSf

4) PLAN: Plan a memorial march in your community. Last year, memorial marches were held in approximately twenty other cities and communities. Please email us the details so we can maintain communication, compile the information on our website, and build strength in our coordinated efforts.

5) DONATE: Please donate. The February 14th Women’s Memorial March is made possible by organizations and individuals like you. 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: https://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womensmemorialmarch/

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Annual Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March – DTES

Annual Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March – DTES

Wednesday Feb 14th, 2018
Family and community members gather in remembrance at 10:30 am
March starts at noon from Carnegie (Main and Hastings)

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/395467634210594/

On Web: https://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/annual-feb-14th-womens-memorial-march-dtes/

The first women’s memorial march was held in 1992 in response to the murder of a woman on Powell Street in Vancouver. 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.

The women’s memorial march continues to honour the lives of missing and murdered women and all women’s lives lost in the Downtown Eastside. 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. Indigenous women disproportionately continue to go missing or be murdered with minimal to no action to address these tragedies or the systemic nature of gendered violence, poverty, racism, or colonialism.

On Wednesday Feb 14th 2018, we will gather at 10:30 am 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 noon, 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 Main and Hastings; a healing circle at Oppenheimer Park around 2:30 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. 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) ATTEND: Spread the word and join us (all genders welcome) to the Feb 14th march. We respectfully ask that you please do not bring your agency or group banners, flags, or leaflets as the Women’s Memorial March carries five banners only to honour the women. Sign honouring womens lives are welcome.

2) KNOW THE PROTOCOL: In a good way, we want to inform everyone about the protocol the march that has been in place for 27 years:

At 10:30 am there will a family and community remembrance in the Carnegie Theatre. This is not open to media or the broader public.

The media and broader public begins gathering at approximately 11:30 in front of Main and Hastings where territorial elders welcome us. At noon the elders and family members exit from the Carnegie Theatre and everyone is asked to make a circle at Main and Hastings for the prayer. The march proceeds at noon only when elders and family members have exited the Theatre and after the prayer circle.

The March is organized and led by women. Women elders carrying medicines are at the front, followed by all women elders and family members and women drummers. The quilt made by loved ones in the DTES community is carried behind the family members and drummers. Everyone is invited to follow. We ask that you leave your organizational banners at home, signs honouring women’s lives are welcome.

The march makes a numbers of stops along the way for ceremony to honour where women were last seen or found. There is no photography of the ceremonies. At approximately 2 pm we stop again at Main and Hastings for speeches by community activists, followed by a healing circle and drummers at Oppenheimer Park around 3 pm, and finally a community feast at the Japanese Language Hall.

3) VOLUNTEER: Please volunteer to support the march with setup, cleanup and more. We need approximately 55 volunteers. Volunteers can sign up here: http://signup.com/go/ZAisRjT

4) PLAN: Plan a memorial march in your community. Last year, memorial marches were held in approximately twenty other cities and communities. Please email us the details so we can maintain communication, compile the information on our website, and build strength in our coordinated efforts.

5) DONATE: Please donate. The February 14th Women’s Memorial March is made possible by organizations and individuals like you. 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: https://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womensmemorialmarch/

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Downtown Eastside Women’s Group Responds to National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

TO ALL NEWS EDITORS
MEDIA ADVISORY

Downtown Eastside Women’s Group Responds to National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

What: Press Conference with February 14^th Women’s Memorial March Committee
When: Tuesday January 12 at 10 am
Where: Aboriginal Front Door, 384 Main Street, corner East Hastings, Vancouver.

The February 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee is hosting a press conference on Tuesday January 12 at 10 am at the Aboriginal Front Door with key issues and recommendations for a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The following day, on January 13, members of the Committee and other family members, survivors and frontline organizations will be attending the pre-inquiry design process meeting in Vancouver convened by three federal Ministers.

The February 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee was founded in 1991 when a woman was found murdered on Powell Street. For 26 years, the Committee has been a leading voice on the issue and has raised local, national, and international attention on violence against Indigenous women. The February 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee includes family members, frontline workers, close friends and loved ones with decades of in-depth knowledge and intimate experience.

Women in the Downtown Eastside lead an annual march on February 14th because women, especially Indigenous women, face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence on a daily basis. Increasing deaths of many vulnerable women from the Downtown Eastside still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Fay Blaney: 778-714-0161
Carol Martin: 604-445-9923
Myrna Cranmer: 604-215-0264
Mabel Nipshank: 604-809-6504
Evelyne Youngchief: 778-888-1687

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Indigenous and Women’s Groups Join the Call for Justice for Cindy Gladue

INDIGENOUS AND WOMEN’S GROUPS JOIN THE CALL FOR JUSTICE FOR CINDY GLADUE

PRESS RELEASE- April 2, 2015

Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories

The February 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee (WMMC) joins numerous local women’s and social justice groups along with 22 other cities and communities across Canada to honour Cindy Gladue’s life and to demand justice. We demand an appeal of the acquittal of her killer by the Crown Prosecutor’s Office in Edmonton.

Today,10:30 am, the WMMC will host a rally at the BC Supreme Court, located at 800 Hornby Street, Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish Territories, to protest the verdict that acquitted Ms Gladue’s murderer.

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25th Annual February 14th Women’s Memorial March needs your help…

25th Annual February 14th Women’s Memorial March needs your help

The February 14th Women’s Memorial March began after the brutal and tragic murder of a Coast Salish woman in Vancouver’s downtown eastside (dtes). Women from the community were so outraged by the manner in which she was murdered and fed up with the continued violence against women in the community. The women organized a march through the downtown eastside to raise awareness around violence against women.

The February 14th Women’s Memorial March is sponsored by organizations and individuals like you. The march is held to honour and grieve the loss of the lives of women who die each year due to violence and to remember the more than 32 women who are still listed as missing. 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, posters, candles, tobacco and other expenses. If you would like to sponsor one component of this years march please call Mabel at 604 681 8480 ext 222 or email housing1@dewc.ca or Alice Kendall at 604-681-8480 ext 223, email center@dewc.ca.

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21st Annual Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March

– Please forward this notice to your friends, family, and networks –

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:
https://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/non-participation-sham-inquiry/

followed on Tuesday by…

21st Annual Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March

Web link: https://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.

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Women’s Coalition of the Downtown Eastside: Women’s Safety 24/7

Women’s Coalition of the Downtown Eastside:
Women’s Safety 24/7

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

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Campaign “No More Stolen Sisters: Safe Shelters, Safe Housing, Safe Services”

Over the past two months a growing group of women residents of the Downtown Eastside as well as a coalition of DTES and women-serving organizations have been raising the urgent issue of women’s safety in shelters in the Downtown Eastside. This has come in response to a number of reported sexual assaults in DTES shelters.

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: https://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

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