Since the pandemic interfered in our lives in March 2020, 37 women have been murdered by a spouse or ex-partner and eight children killed by their father in a context of domestic violence in Quebec. There are more than 70 children who are today without a mother for the simple reason that a man wanted to assert his domination and control over her.
In the context of International Women’s Day, we call for a duty of memory. We reiterate the importance of remembering the women who lost their lives at the hands of their attackers. However, applying the Quebec motto “I remember” must be done while keeping in mind all women, in all the diversity and heterogeneity that they present as a social group.
It seems important to us to remember why we use intersectionality by bringing our point of view as workers in shelters who can see its usefulness on a daily basis in the field. We also wish to provide an enlightening analysis by taking a look at feminicides in the marital context of the last three years.
First, in 2022, Maria Cristovao, Madeleine Désormeaux, Louise Avon, Annie Di Lauro, Donna Callahan, all murdered by their spouses, were between the ages of 64 and 90, clearly demonstrating that violence against women affects everyone. ages.
These women also remind us of the importance of considering the impact of aging in addition to domestic violence, for example by taking into account the digital divide between younger and older generations, in order to guarantee accessibility and adaptability. services and intervention with victims based on their level of digital literacy.
The case of Johanne Bilodeau, who died in September 2020 from the mistreatment of her spouse, on whom she depended for care since a severe stroke, is also very enlightening. How to leave a violent environment if we rely on our aggressor to move?
We keep in mind women with disabilities like Mr.me Bilodeau or mothers of children with functional limitations who are brutalized by their spouse, but see their separation complicated by the fear of not being able to provide all the necessary care for their children by finding refuge elsewhere.
This is why our shelters strive to develop progressive places to allow the many women and children who will frequent these places to feel safe and comfortable, regardless of their functional limitations.
If the goal of strategies for controlling the aggressors is to isolate the victims, immigrant women find themselves all the more vulnerable in the face of violence from their spouses given their access to an often very limited network.
Let us remember Gisèle Itale Betondi, Kamila Rodriguez Vital de Quieroz, Rajinder Prabhneed Kaur and their children who were all present during the murder of their mother.
Keeping in mind that in addition to having to deal with a complex legal system, many immigrant women have to navigate a foreign cultural system, our shelters adapt their services in order to offer, among other things, services in the native language of the victims.
Finally, how can we explain that Inuit women represent 11% of victims of feminicides in a conjugal context since the beginning of the pandemic when they represent only 1.4% of women in Quebec?
The intersection of violence against women and racism makes it possible to take a critical look at the essential issues of access to justice in Aboriginal communities, cultural and language barriers within the judicial system, underfunding of police forces self-governing natives as well as trust in law enforcement.
The Viens commission stems precisely from allegations made by aboriginal women regarding sexual assaults committed by police forces in Val-d’Or. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MNIWG) clearly documents inadequate policing and justice practices with Indigenous women and girls.
In short, intersectionality is very simple: since “one-size-fits-all” clothing does not really adapt to all bodies, intervention with women at risk must also be offered in several formats in order to adapt to the reality of each of them.