Silly Little Country

The Polytechnic Murders - A Welcome Change of Focus

I am so accustomed to hearing the Polytechnic murders tied to arguments for gun control, when they are a classic example against gun control, that it was astonishing to find Helene Guergis' column this morning in the National Post, with the focus where it belongs, on extreme misogyny, and cultural practices that encourage it.

While Canada thankfully has not experienced an incident of the type and magnitude of the Montreal Massacre since 1989, we are becoming more aware of a variety of forms of violence against women that are less public but similarly horrifying.
These forms of violence against women include cultural practices, such as so-called honour killings, genital mutilation and forced marriage. Another danger to women is human trafficking — literally, modern-day slavery.
Canada’s aboriginal women in particular are vulnerable to abuse and are three times more likely than other women to experience violence, and five times more likely to die as a result.
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We can start referring to “forced marriages” as kidnap and rape, and by refusing to use the term “honour killings” as though it actually has something to do with honour, rather than being the most heinous form of dishonourable murder. In order to end violence against women, we need to face it, and to name it for what it is.

UPDATE: Whatever my implications above, I would have to agree that the gun control laws of 1989 that made it easy for Lepine to get his gun were too lax. I thank today's Sunday Edition for this note.

posted by Alan Adamson @ 10:15 AM