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WOMEN'S MARCH HEADS TO OTTAWA
(This article is from the October 1-15/2000 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, Canada, V5L 3J1.)
A message from the Central Women's Commission, Communist Party of Canada
IN AN unprecedented campaign against neo-liberal globalization, women from the Canadian East to West to North are joining millions of their sisters from over 157 countries and 5000 groups to demand that governments respect and promote women's human rights. Canadian women will march onto Parliament Hill on Oct. 15, to call for immediate and effective measures to end poverty and violence against women.
Today's statistics are starkly revealing: One out of every six women is poor. Women still earn an average of two-thirds of the male wage. Along with women with disabilities, Aboriginal women (33%), women of colour (28%) and immigrant women (21%) face the highest levels of poverty. Women living alone, who are over 65 years of age, face a poverty rate of 49%! With the increase in women's poverty, one in five Canadian children are poor; in fact, 56% of single parent families headed by women are poor.
Insecurity and fear caused by the attacks on our social safety net push many women into staying in abusive relationships. In the last twenty years, close to 1500 women have been killed by their spouses.
These realities make the Women's March 2000 highly relevant. Marches, rallies, forums, festivals, conferences and many other activities are taking place to focus attention on the issues of poverty and violence against women. During September, "Take Back the Night" marches protested male violence in communities in every province and territory.
Many other World March activities took place last month. To name just a few: the dramatic "Journey for Justice" by Aboriginal women rafting down the Fraser River; "Speak Outs" held by Black women in Toronto to discuss issues of racism, immigration, poverty and violence; a march by community coalitions in Brandon, organized to coincide with the Manitoba Federation of Labour convention.
Throughout October, communities across the country will hold events leading up to the Québec-wide rally in Montréal on October 14, and the October 15 rally on Parliament Hill.
The Ottawa rally will present the federal government with a "Feminist Dozen" of thirteen immediate demands for action (see box on this page). The full and detailed list of 68 demands can be found in "It's Time for Change," the document developed and produced by the Canadian Women's March Committee.
Initiated by the Fédération des femmes du Québec, the World March of Women in the Year 2000 was inspired by the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, the 1995 Québec Women's March, and the 1996 Women's March Against Poverty organized by the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) and Canadian Labour Congress.
This year, the Canadian Women's March Committee includes, in addition to NAC, the CLC and the FFQ, other equality-seeking organizations such as the National Anti-Poverty Organization, the Canadian Abortion Rights Action League, the Canadian Federation of Students, the Child Care Advocacy Association, the Congress of Black Women, the Disabled Women's Network, the Native Women's Association of Canada, and the National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada.
On October 17, a delegation of Canadian women will join their sisters from around the world in New York City for the World Rally at the United Nations.
So join us in Ottawa if you can, or be sure to join in the activities in your own communities, as we go marching, riding, jogging, wheeling, walking, dancing and fighting to end poverty and violence against women. The time for change is now!
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