UPEI to recognize the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
The UPEI Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering (FSDE) will host a candlelight vigil on Friday, December 6, at 10:00 am, at the Academic Staircase in the FDSE building in recognition of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women was created in response to the murder of 14 women, 12 of whom were engineering students, at the École Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989. The vigil is also an opportunity to remember the 10 women murdered on PEI since 1989 by someone who knew them as well as murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in Canada.
Candles will be lit by engineering students, staff, and faculty in memory of the women who died 35 years ago: Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz.
A commemorative display will also be set up near the entrance of the FSDE building all day for those who wish to write messages of reflection and hope. Light refreshments will be provided following the ceremony, and all are welcome.
The flags near Kelley Memorial Building will be flown at half-mast on December 6 to also commemorate and honour victims of gender-based violence. Members of the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women will host their annual Charlottetown Memorial Service on Friday, December 6 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm at Memorial Hall, Confederation Centre of the Arts. The event is open to the public.
The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women falls during the Purple Ribbon campaign, a collective show of support to end gender-based violence in which everyone is encouraged to wear purple and purple ribbons during the 16 Days of Activism from November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to December 10 (International Human Rights Day).
