The Burdened Branches of Violence

*Warning – Graphic content

Look what he's done to you

It isn't fair

Your light was bright and new…

But he didn't care

He took the heart of a little girl

And made it grow up too fast…

Now words like innocence

Don't mean a thing

You hear the music play…

But you can't sing

Those pictures in your mind

Keep you locked up inside your past…

This is a song for the broken girl

The one pushed aside by the cold, cold world

Hear me when I say…

You're not the worthless they made you feel

There is a Love they can never steal away…

And you don't have to stay the broken girl

Those damaged goods you see

In your reflection…

Love sees them differently

Love sees perfection

A beautiful display…

Of healing on the way tonight

Look what he's done to you

It isn't fair…

Let your tears touch the ground

Lay all your shattered pieces down

And be amazed by how Grace can take a broken girl…

And put her back together again…

~ Matthew West - Broken Girl Lyrics

 Last week, I received an invite from Virginia Vaillancourt, PSAC BC Regional Women’s Coordinator, to this year’s annual National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women in Canada. We gathered to remember those on December 6^th, 1989, whose lives ended because of gender violence. Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal. They died because they were women.

 In 2016, violence against women and girls permeates our daily news, our social media and our entertainment. From the American presidential election to Judge Robin Camp’s blaming a rape victim by saying: “Why couldn’t you just keep your knees together?”, public discourse on sexual assault still excuses men who assault, and blames women who’ve been assaulted. 

Rose Campaign 2016 supports the movement for change with:

 #NeverBlameTheVictim. Click link to VIDEO>>>  https://youtu.be/NNHhyhobpEk

  

This afternnon, gathering with others, I choked back tears as I see the mass of photographs floating mid air, attached to branches with strings. These are the faces of violence. Women who awoke on a December day, dreams tucked in their hearts with the power of education as a way to their futures, they walked out their doors…never to return. One lone gunman changed Canadian’s history with the weapons he brought. Eradicating those he deemed as the enemy- one by one, these shining diamonds were crushed- lives snuffed out in an instant. 

Photographs and names of the 14 victims of the Montreal massacre hanging from the tree in Victoria, BC 

I look around at the small crowd gathered and wonder what it will take for this city to rise in solidarity­- for those who are no longer with us or are oppressed? I shake my head at how a crowd will gather for a cup of coffee but not for their own sisters. I close my eyes in the moment of silence that was held and through the branches of the trees I catch a breeze of rancid discord. I cannot wrap my mind around the thousands of people drawn together all over North America for Black Friday… compared to the dozen who came out for today. 

I am reminded of how many people over a twenty year span drove off the same road my daughter did, into the reservoir and lived…not one single person did anything to bring safety changes. It seems the perception is…that will never happen to me or Thank goodness I survived!

As I type this, violence against women and children is occurring. There will be lines crossed, while innocence is being taken away, faster than the credit cards are being swiped at the tills.  

Don’t think one person can make a difference? On a deadly stretch of winding road, change was brought by one soul no longer on this earth. Her name was Shayla Driver and she believed in being the change you wish to see. 

"He has his mother's eyes."

Every year, I make my presence known at the Candlelight Vigil held by Virginia Vaillancourt. Not because I knew any of the victims of the Montreal massacre, but to lend my support that violence of any kind should not be tolerated.

Today, as I gazed upon the glowing candles and red roses laid at a stone in memory of the 14 woman killed at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal, I remember that in a world of unpredictability…all it takes, is for any of us to walk out that door and be greeted with evil… never to return again. 

By TL Alton