During the commemoration of the assassination of 14 women, on December 6, the leitmotif which often returned to the public square was that they were victims of the killer simply “because they were women”.
A forgotten dimension, but essential to keep in mind, is that they were killed on the premises of their university studies, at Polytechnique Montreal, an institution which prepares for a profession still today largely dominated by men. Thirteen of the fourteen victims had violated a taboo, namely that women have their place elsewhere, and not just as teachers, nurses or administrative assistants.
Of course, this criminal act is part of the too vast constellation of violence against women. However, to fight effectively against this violence, it is important to distinguish them from one another. The Polytechnique massacre is not simply due to the fact that they are women. A central element is missing from this observation: they were women who were trying to enter a world of men and who, as a result, in the mind of the killer who was struggling to enter Polytechnique, took a place that was not theirs. , a place reserved for men.
It is therefore time to recognize that even today this unequal distribution between women and men on the labor market is perpetuated: on construction sites, in the armed forces, in the fields of science and technology, management and the boards of directors of large companies, influential and prestigious ministries, and we could go on and on listing the functions to which it is still difficult for them today to accede.
Unfortunately, sometimes explicit but also often subtle barriers prevent women from occupying these male-dominated jobs. It is important to be aware of this on the occasion of the commemoration of the Polytechnique massacre and to eliminate by all means this concrete wall built on stereotypes and prejudices which still too often exclude women and deprive society of their contribution.
Ultimately, they were women who had simply had the courage to follow their passion and step into a world that had been deemed not theirs.