A fervent activist in the fight against domestic violence in Quebec succumbed to her injuries sustained in a bicycle accident last week in Montreal, leaving behind a great void in the community.
“She had a capacity for indignation and revolt and she used it to move the rights of women and children. She was ready to knock on any door, no matter how long it took. She put the necessary energy into it as long as her goal was not achieved, ”says Jean-Sébastien Matte, the husband of Gaëlle Fedida.
She tragically lost her life on Sunday a few days after falling on a bicycle on avenue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville, near rue Saint-Norbert, in Montreal. She was widely known for her role since 2015 as Political Files Coordinator at the Alliance of 2nd Stage Shelters (MH2) for Women and Children Victims of Domestic Violence.
A tireless activist
Her sudden death sent a real shock wave through the community: “We are losing a determined and tireless activist,” said the organization’s president, Sabrina Lemeltier, on the phone.
It was the 53-year-old woman who had documented and explained the importance of setting up post-separation services across Quebec to prevent femicides and infanticides, underlines Ms. Lemeltier.
“When victims leave emergency shelters, some still need safe transitional housing and services. There was nothing that existed twenty years ago. Today, the funding we receive for each 2nd stage accommodation and for the workers, it is thanks to Gaëlle, ”estimates the president.
“In the beginning, the Alliance was literally at home. Our meetings took place in her living room, she recalls. We had no money. Now it’s about twenty employees and offices. »
Gaëlle Fedida also multiplied media appearances and offered solutions to the scourge of domestic violence. In the midst of a wave of feminicides in the winter of 2021, she had also launched a cry from the heart in Quebec on the need to implement concrete measures to prevent these murders which shook the province.
“Injustices and inequities are something that outraged him every day. So it was just natural for her to defend isolated and left-to-it-alone women and their children. Women who find themselves faced with a police system that does not hear them,” adds Jean-Sébastien Matte.
The mother of the family was also involved in the political party Québec Solidaire.
In war zones
Before immigrating to Quebec in 2011, Gaëlle Fedida worked for Doctors Without Borders in France for a long time. As program manager, she had even traveled to hostile terrain on several occasions, notably in Afghanistan, Madagascar and the Congo, says her husband.
“It is thanks to her that hundreds of thousands of people, particularly in Malawi, have had access to triple therapy against HIV,” he says proudly.
Jean-Sébastien Matte accompanied his wife in her last greatest wish: that of saving lives thanks to the donation of her organs.