Remembering part 2

from the White Ribbon campaign website.

Quite a few 20th anniversaries this year. Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Ecole Polytechnique massacre.

Some of my contemporaries think violence or discrimination against women are "historical" issues; the fact is that the numbers are still scary. According to StatsCan:

• 45 — The number of female victims of spousal homicide in 2008. Of these, 22 women were killed by their legally married husband, 10 by a common-law partner and 13 by a separated or divorced husband or common-law partner.
• 36% — The percentage of female victims of spousal violence who report abuse to police. The equivalent number for men is 17%.
• 25 to 34 — The age group, among women, most likely to be victims of spousal violence.
• 61,690 — The number of women admitted to one of 569 shelters across Canada between April 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008.
• 3 out of 4 — The proportion of all women who sought refuge in a shelter on April 16, 2008 who were escaping abuse (all via).
  

Some resources for today, if you're in a remembering kind of mood:

• Status of Women Canada website
• The White Ribbon Campaign
• Police officials and a coroner tell their stories about December 6, 1989 (via).
• Offline: this month's Chatelaine magazine (English version) has a moving interview with Lepine's mother, whose memoirs came out last year.