Tag: women’s march

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“Hey, hey! Ho, ho! The patriarchy has got to go!”: Hundreds gather to celebrate International Women’s Day

Protestors gathered near Parc metro station following International Women's Day. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

“Long live image resistance, long live solidarity and sisterhood. Long live International Women’s working days,” said Ishita Tiwary, spokesperson and assistant professor at Concordia

On March 12, hundreds of Montrealers gathered at Park metro station to march in solidarity following International Women’s Day.

The main message was to show the urgency to stand in solidarity with women facing all the injustices caused by the pandemic and all the social issues happening in all communities across Montreal and internationally.

Protestors, including members of feminist art collective Soy Nosotras (Above), gathered near Parc metro station following International Women’s Day. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

The rally is a yearly demonstration organized by the Women of Diverse Origins (WDO) organization to commemorate International Women’s Day and to recognize the history of injustices and inequalities that women face.

The organization was initially created in the wake of the Global War on Terrorism, the American-led military campaign launched following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. 

WDO includes women from different ethnicities, religions, and ages who join together to support women’s rights and fight against patriarchy, racism, capitalism, colonialism, fascism, and imperialism. 

To honour the different ethnicities that make up the organization and to better represent all these women, the WDO invited women from various cultural backgrounds to share a word at the protest. 

Wet’suwet’en elder and activist Marlene Hale spoke at the event on Saturday organized by Women of Diverse Origins. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

“Our stolen sisters — we still remember [them] from all across the land,” said Wet’suwet’en elder, activist, and chef Marlene Hale.

“Whether it’s one thing or the other, with the Indigenous, the non-Indigenous, for the coloured, we have been there before for each other.”

Kavitha Culasingam, a community organizer with the Centre des femmes d’ici et d’ailleurs, pointed out how the rise in violence against women and femicide in Quebec jeopardizes women’s rights of living equitably.

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development Canada, and Isabelle Charest, Minister for Education, shared a statement on March 2021 stating the COVID-19 pandemic increased the rates and severity of sexual and domestic violence against women in Quebec.

“It is important to remember that we can lose our rights at any time, and [we should] continue to fight,” said Culasingam. 

Feminist art collective Soy Nosotras lit candles in solidarity with and remembrance of survivors of assault. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

Culasingam highlighted women’s injustice in Quebec. Alee Coloma, a spokesperson of PINAY Quebec, an organization for migrant and immigrant Filipino women, called attention to the wars happening around the world and the injustices that follow. 

“When we talk about war, we are not foolish enough to think that war is only happening in Ukraine. War is everywhere. In Europe, the Middle East, in Africa, in South America and Asia […] and who does war affect to the most, but women and children?” said Coloma. 

During wars, women are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence, abuse and exploitation while caring for their families. 

Feminist art collective Soy Nosotras organized an installation in which women could share their experiences of violence and assault in solidarity with one another. CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

Ishita Tiwary, spokesperson and assistant professor at Concordia said, “On this day, we raise our voices to demand peace, NATO provocation and the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian borders.”

Another solution suggested by Hélène Bissonnette, a member of the Socialist Fightback Students organization, is to transition into a socialist society. 

“You see all the rise of violence in women, you see the rise of inequality, you see the attacks of abortion in the U.S. and across the world, they are real concrete reasons to fight against women’s oppression. But the root of all this, what we are seeing is that as the capitalist system,” said Bissonnette.

CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian
CATHERINE REYNOLDS/The Concordian

Photos by Catherine Reynolds

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The World March of Women’s fifth action concluded this Sunday

Protester chanting slogans in megaphone during the 2021 Montreal International Women's March on October 19.

Marchers chanted “Equity is Possible through Diversity” as this year’s focus was on the rights of Indigenous and marginalized women

Montreal’s Coalition of the World March of Women (WMW) held a march this Sunday Oct.17, concluding the fifth international action which, this year, emphasized the rights of Indigenous women.

Marchers wore red, a symbol that shows solidarity for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. Red scarves were given out by event organizers at Cabot Square Park before the march departed at 1 p.m.. The crowd chanted “Equity is possible through diversity” during the speeches, right before taking off for the march.

Protesters of all ages, backgrounds and genders chanted and marched down Saint-Catherine Street to the beat of hand-held drums.

The WMW was a feminist movement that initiated in Quebec after the Bread and Roses march in 1995 to combat the growing impoverishment and violence against women.

The movement was “born of the desire to unite women of the world around a common project,” as stated on the official WMW website, and grew to “an international feminist action movement connecting grass-roots groups and organizations working to eliminate the causes at the root of poverty and violence against women.”

The first international action happened in 2000 and has since occurred every five years. Beginning on March 8, International Women’s Day, and closing on Oct. 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the WMW holds a series of events to put forward and raise awareness for their demands.

The fifth action was projected to take place in 2020, but the Coordination du Québec de la March mondiale des femmes (CQMMF) decided to postpone it due to the pandemic.

The WMW regroups activists and women’s groups in Montreal. But, it is also just one part of a global movement. Diana Lombardi, coordinator for Réseau d’action des femmes en santé et services sociaux, an umbrella group for women’s groups in Montreal, explained: “When we sit down and think about what themes to bring up for the march, we ask ourselves: how can what we are doing in Montreal support and make space for women’s voices who are less heard?”

Nakuset, executive director of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, highlighted why the WMW is fighting for Indigenous women’s rights. “We’re still facing no clean water in Iqaluit, we’re still facing missing and murdered Indigenous women, we’re still facing poverty, we’re still facing homelessness, we’re still facing our children being apprehended in youth protection.”

“We learned this summer that there are over 6500 children in mass graves, therefore we need your help,” she said.

This year’s march was organized around five major themes: a strong sense of solidarity and the demands of indigenous women, poverty, violence against women, climate justice, and the rights of immigrant, racialized, and migrant women.

Lombardi was also on Montreal’s WMW coordinating team for this year’s actions. “Our goal is to speak more to the population that it is possible to make changes […] and what we are suggesting is good for all communities, not just a few. We are thinking of a society with less violence, cleaner spaces, less poverty, and a place for all people” said Lombardi. “How can we not fight for that?”

The poverty theme assesses the growing impoverishment of women by asking decent livable wages. “The housing crisis in Montreal is making it harder for women to come out of poverty, which makes accessing clean and affordable housing more difficult,” said Lombardi.

Montreal’s Rental Market Report for 2020 highlighted that the average rental prices on the Island of Montreal went up 4.2 per cent in 2020, which has been the largest increase since 2003.

The WMW is also demanding more recognition of violence against women. Femicide has been discussed by Quebec media more than ever since the start of the pandemic. In 2021, 16 women in the province of Quebec were reported murdered through acts of domestic violence, with an alleged 17th case on Monday.

Lombardi adds, “the housing crisis in Montreal is not helping women who are experiencing domestic or interpersonal violence looking for a safe place to be.”

She also notes that immigrant, racialized, and migrant women “who might not have high status” and “who are trying to be included in Montreal and in Montreal’s society” are failing to be noticed by the city.

“Can we recognize that we have a problem with systemic racism?” she asked.

 

Photograph by Lou Neveux-Pardijon

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Joining forces to denounce exploitation and sexual violence

A protester chants through a megaphone and rallies the crowd minutes before marching from the downtown Concordia campus. Photo by Alex Hutchins

30,000 Quebec students rally to demand salary wages for unpaid internships

Nearly 30,000 students across Quebec mobilized to protest against unpaid internships and denounce the sexual violence many students, particularly women, experience in the workplace on Thursday, March 8. In tandem with International Women’s Day, the Montreal Coalition for paid internships organized their third large-scale protest to demand that student interns be given proper wage compensation, as well as access to the internal resources at their workplaces that are exclusively available to paid employees.

The coalition was formed in early June 2017 by multiple student unions and associations to unite against labour exploitation. “We think that by asking for wages for interns it will change the situation because, in Quebec […] when you’re an intern, you are below every [paid] worker, and you don’t have protection,” said Kaelle Stapels, one of the organizers of the march and a member of the Montreal Coalition for paid internships.

Unpaid internships are illegal in Quebec, except when the student is completing an internship for course credit either for an approved educational institution, as part of vocational training or if the student is working for a non-profit organization, according to the Canadian Intern Association.

Jeanne Dufresne, a Université du Québec à Montréal student protester, explained how degrees that require students to do a minimum number of hours as an intern before graduating are particularly problematic. According to Dufresne, an internship is a “full-time job [and students] need to do that to get their diploma, so that’s why it’s frustrating, because after the work, they need to go [find] a part-time job” to subsidize the costs of being in school and working full-time with no income.

“When I’m doing my internship as a nurse and I’m with my patients, I’m legally responsible for [them] as I would be if I were a real nurse. But I’m not paid,” Stapels said.

While the coalition demands that every student, regardless of gender, be fairly compensated as working interns, many of its members emphasize that women are more vulnerable when it comes to labour exploitation and sexual harassment in the workplace.

A crowd of 300 protesters chant while they trek uphill towards Docteur-Penfield Avenue along Atwater Avenue. Photo by Alex Hutchins

Although it’s possible to experience sexual violence in every program or field, Stapels explained that women who are in programs such as nursing, social work or education have an increased chance of experiencing exploitation and sexual harassment in the workplace.

Stapels also explained that because female interns in particular are not given the same protection as paid employees through their placement’s administration, if they experience sexual harassment while working, often their only option is to use the resources available through their university. “And we all know schools do nothing,” Stapels said. “The resources that are in place now, they’re not [enough]. They don’t do the job.”

According to a report titled l’Enquête sexualité, sécurité et interactions en milieu universitaire (ESSIMU) conducted by over a dozen researchers, about 37 per cent of university students have reported incidents of sexual violence or harassment in Quebec training programs. One third of the reported incidents occured within a hierarchical context. Due to the power dynamics found within academic institutions, the report explains, students are often at a disadvantage when reporting sexual misconduct.

The march was organized mainly to protest against unpaid internships and sexual violence in the workplace, however, given that it occured in conjunction with International Women’s Day, many protesters gathered to denounce gendered violence altogether. Maintaining an open dialogue between people and encouraging women to speak up about the problems they experience daily, explained student protester Giverny Welsch, “[is] what is so remarkable about what’s happening right now.” Welsch emphasized how this open dialogue is key to formulating both a community and a movement that are geared towards inclusivity. “We’re humans because we are able to communicate.”

A crowd of 300 protesters chant while they trek uphill towards Docteur-Penfield Avenue along Atwater Avenue. Photo by Alex Hutchins

Building relationships by empowering women, said Lucie Arson, a protester who preferred to use a pseudonym, is the first step towards starting a movement and creating a strong community that works towards positive change as a united front. “[As] a non-binary trans person, and as a sex worker, I kind of feel alone and not represented […] but right now, I’m feeling great,” having met people with similar experiences, Arson said. “There’s a [feeling of] solidarity.”

Sexism still exists, “[it] is a problem everyday,” said Arson, and it can be life-threatening for countless women all over the world. “Patriarchy works in a way where we are always opposed to other women around us, so I think it’s time to rebuild these relationships and fight together.”

Photos by Alex Hutchins

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Montreal women march towards social justice

Hundreds of Montrealers listen to speakers at the rally outside Place-des-Arts. Photo by Alex Hutchins

Montrealers join forces in support of inclusive, intersectional feminism

Hundreds of Montrealers gathered outside Place-des-Arts at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 20 for the second annual Montreal Women’s March. Organizations like the Centre des Femmes de l’UQÀM, a feminist group from the Université du Québec à Montréal, helped organize the event alongside many diverse groups and volunteers.

People from all across the city joined dozens of other marches taking place across the country, and more throughout the United States, demonstrating for much more than just gender equality. Demonstrators and representatives from various organizations showed their support for several social justice issues, including the Black Lives Matter movement and the LGBTQ+ community.

Claire McLeish (left) and Samantha Skallar hold up their signs at the Montreal Women’s March on Sunday. Photo by Alex Hutchins

At the rally, women from all backgrounds cheered loudly, wore pink “pussyhats” and brandished poster-board signs that featured phrases like, “We love, support and fight for our trans friends,” “Talk to boys about toxic masculinity” and “Respect existence or expect resistance.”

The largest sign, held up on the steps at the Esplanade, read the hashtag of the day, “#ÇaPassePu,” which roughly translates to, “This doesn’t work for us anymore.”

The march took place exactly one year after Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States and the first Women’s March on Washington, when hundreds of thousands gathered in their respective cities to protest his proposed policies.

A demonstrator brandishes a poster-board sign that reads, “GIRL POWER.” Photo by Alex Hutchins

One year later, the rally was now about much more, specifically amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, including sex workers, transgender people, those with disabilities and victims of sexual assault.

Many of the women who spoke at the rally highlighted the #MeToo movement, which has become internationally popular for denouncing sexual violence and harassment, as well as voicing support for survivors. Several speakers in Montreal shared their personal stories of sexual assault and harassment.

Those attending the Montreal rally demanded inclusivity and intersectionality. One speaker announced to the crowd: “If we do not have an intersectional perspective, we will fail some of our sisters.”

The rally came to a deeply moving and emotional peak when one of the speakers instructed everyone in the crowd to hold hands and chant, “I am on fire, I am powerful,” in reference to Alicia Keys’ song “Girl On Fire” and her speech from last year’s Women’s March on Washington.

Another notable speech came from Nathalie Provost, one of the survivors of the December 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, where 14 women were killed in an anti-feminist mass shooting at the hands of gunman Marc Lépine. Provost survived the shooting after being shot in the forehead, both legs and a foot, according to Maclean’s.

In her speech, Provost looked back on the tragedy, telling the crowd about how, at the time, she had said she was not a feminist. She mentioned that her daughters were in attendance with her at the rally to support women’s rights.

Demonstrators Anastasia Katsoulis, 14, and Edgar Jose Becerra Granados, 16, told The Concordian they decided to attend this year’s rally because they believe everyone should have equal rights.

A man at the rally holds a sign that reads, “Men of quality do not fear equality.” Photo by Alex Hutchins

“That’s what feminism is. It isn’t just for women,” Katsoulis said. “It’s for the LGBTQ+ community, it’s for people of colour. It’s for everyone.”

Becerra Granados stressed the importance of actively demonstrating for movements you believe in.

“It’s important to go to these kinds of things if you consider yourself a feminist, especially nowadays with social media,” they said. “It’s easy to just say you support something, but you really have to go out and do stuff like this to show that you do.”

 

Photos by Alex Hutchins

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Humans of la Manifestation

I met Rhea Gurnagul while she was protesting against gender inequality with her mother.

An exploration of why people protest against gender inequality

On Saturday, Jan. 21, I attended the annual Women’s March in Montreal at Place des Arts, where many speakers gave a voice to issues of gender inequality through an array of critical lenses. I asked several people why they thought these protests are important and how it felt to be part of a public gathering with so many people fighting for different forms of equality. This is what they had to say.

“I think it’s important because we need to raise public awareness on issues that have the tendency to be silenced. I think it’s the perfect moment, now, to be a woman, because I recognize the shift, and I’m just so happy to be a part of it,” she said, smiling at her mother. I asked Gurnagul what she personally drew from being at the protest. She replied: “Just complete empowerment. Just pure ecstasy. Like, I’m so ready to march. We’re all here with similar values, and it feels great. It feels like I’m part of a movement.”

Erin Strumpf was sporting a hot pink feather boa, a shiny gold cape, a fairy wand and a “pussyhat.”

“[The march is] a reminder that those of us who are fighting to make change and a better world are still here, and we’re not going anywhere. I think it’s an important opportunity, as a community, to come together and feel the power of being together and to be sort of reinvigorated and re-energized,” she said. “It’s empowering at an individual level, and I think you feel that exchange with other people, and it sort of builds into something bigger than just yourself.”

Dalia Robidoux proudly displays her hand-made sign while protesting in favour of feminism and gender equality.

“I feel like it’s really empowering for you and for other people because […] when you see your neighbours coming out and protesting, it makes you see the whole movement and you see the community, because this is a community,” she said. Robidoux told me what she personally took away from the protest. “I feel so much more powerful,” she said with a smile. “[Coming] to this protest, I don’t know, I feel like I can do anything, like I can say anything and I’ll be listened to.”

Fatou Ndiaye was supporting Democrats Abroad Montreal, an organization that allows American citizens living abroad to mobilize and participate in electoral processes, according to their website.

“This is important because it is a symbol of the fight and the continuation of the resistance, and being able to say that this is more than just a one-time thing. We’re not swayed by what […] seems to be most important in the general stream of popular culture. It’s about a genuine passion for equality. It’s honestly beautiful,” she said.

I asked Ndiaye how she felt people could be more politically active beyond gathering in physical spaces. She answered, “I think this comes in two-folds; the first being on just the individual level, to reach out to your [community] to try to get more people mobilized on a regular basis.” She said the second fold is about organizations continuously engaging with more communities, even if only briefly. “I think it’s just about making that awareness known and being more proactive in diffusing that awareness.”

A previous version of this article used the headline “Women of la Manifestation.” The headline has been changed to more accurately represent the diversity of people who attended the event. The Concordian regrets the error.

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Arts

When a compliment isn’t a compliment

Concordia alumna filmmaker tackles catcalling and street harassment

It was the Women’s March on Washington that inspired Concordia alumna Karina Lafayette to begin investigating individual cases of catcalling and street harassment. Currently working as a filmmaker in Toronto, she started a conversation with her friends about their personal experiences and began sharing their stories.

Lafayette said she felt compelled to make something out of the conversations she’d heard surrounding the march and in her circle, and decided to create an online survey. She asked women to describe their worst experiences with catcalling and street harassment.

What began as a few responses quickly grew into over 40 haunting confessions. Lafayette said she was not surprised by how many women responded, given the prevalence of catcalling in modern society. She was surprised, however, by how candidly and openly the participants told their stories.

“Sometimes we’re told it’s supposed to be a compliment,” Lafayette said. She said this could be a reason why street harassment isn’t discussed often or in much detail. To many who do not experience it and to the perpetrators themselves, street harassment is seen as flattery and is not perceived as offensive.  Because of this, explaining how an experience of catcalling can be taken negatively becomes difficult, and the subject itself becomes almost taboo.

Overwhelmed by the number of responses, Lafayette decided to convert the stories into a short film. She was careful not to censor anything—she wanted to accurately portray the reality of being catcalled. Lafayette explained that due to the extremely disrespectful language often used by catcallers, if she had chosen to censor the quotes, it would have taken away from the film’s meaning. “Most of them already contain some type of derogatory term or insult,” she said. “It would be like censoring pretty much the entire film.”

The film, Give Me A Smile, begins with a shot of a woman walking down the street, followed by an image of her doing her hair and makeup, and then one shot—from a bird’s eye view—of her walking down stairs and pausing at a door to go outside. Lafayette’s voice recites her own poem, Eve’s Apple, as the camera continues to follow the woman outside and down a dimly lit street. The poem describes the harmful consequences that catcalling and misogyny can have on a woman’s self esteem. The responses to her survey appear written on the screen: “slut,” “Here kitty kitty…” and “Damn baby girl! Come here, I got what you’re looking for.”

The camera follows the woman down the dark streets, as more catcalling quotes flash across the screen. The soundtrack of rock music gives particularly disturbing and graphic quotes even more of an unsettling air. The film concludes with a shot of the Toronto mural titled “The Awakening,” a simple image of two faces pressed up against each other. Their eyes are closed and their faces wear a solemn expression. The final shot evokes a feeling of intimacy, which provides a link to the vulnerable position that victims of street harassment are subjected to. The music then fades and the credits roll.

Lafayette said she hopes her film initiates a conversation about catcalling and common misconceptions about what it feels like to be on the receiving end. She said she wanted to shed a light on women’s experiences, and allow them to see they are not alone in what they have been subjected to.

“[I want] to show people that catcalling and street harassment in general shouldn’t be taken lightly, because it can relate to many other situations. At the same time, I kind of want to debunk this whole myth of it being a compliment,” she said. “I myself, every time I experienced it, I thought I was in the wrong. But by listening to other people, that’s when I realized that it’s actually a form of bullying.”

Give Me A Smile can be viewed on Lafayette’s YouTube channel, Carus Productions.

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Women’s March on Washington makes it’s way to Montreal

Washington’s sister march in Montreal attracted thousands of women to protest new U.S. President Donald Trump. Photo by Ana Hernandez

The “sister march” was one of over 600 massively successful anti-Trump protests

Thousands of peaceful protestors gathered at the Esplanade de la Place des Arts in downtown Montreal on Saturday as an act of solidarity with women and other marginalized groups that will be affected by Trump’s presidency. The Montreal Women’s March on Washington, which took place the day after Trump’s inauguration as the 45th president of the United States, was part of the Canadian series of anti-Trump protests happening worldwide.

The protest was characterized by the creative signs brandished by protesters, many of them including feminist and social justice-themed messages, ranging from “climate change is real” and “love > fear” to “the pussy grabs back.” While the protests weren’t officially in support of former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, there were many signs featuring messages of support for the popular vote winner. Such signs included Clinton’s campaign’s slogan “I’m With Her” and references to Trump’s “nasty woman” insult from the third presidential debate, which later became a rallying cry for Clinton supporters.

Despite the angry tone of many protesters, the event focused on a hopeful message. In between performers and speakers, protesters chanted “all we are saying is give peace a chance,” and a popular slogan among protesters was “the future is still female.”

The event also featured pink tuques referred to as “pussy hats,” a reference to Trump’s infamous recorded conversation with Billy Bush in 2005 during which he proudly described behaviour that many view as harassment and sexual assault. The hats were featured prominently at Montreal’s rally and sister events worldwide.

Photo by Ana Hernandez

Numerous human rights organizations endorsed the event, including Amnesty International, whose general director, Beatrice Vaugrante, served as a keynote speaker at the rally. Although the event was titled a women’s march, it focused on inclusion and included a diverse line-up of speakers, including Rachel Zellars, the executive director of the non-profit Girls Action Fund; trans rights activist D.T, Indigenous rights activists Maitee Labrecque-Saganash and Viviane Michel, and Sue Montgomery, a journalist for The Montreal Gazette.  Montgomery is well-known for starting #BeenRapedNeverReported, a social media campaign aimed at starting a conversation about the complex reasons many women choose not to report sexual assault.

“We are stronger than all those who believe our bodies are for their taking, all those who believe they can grab our pussies,” Montgomery said to the crowd in her speech, focusing on the strength and resilience of those disappointed by the election rather than the anger and sadness they feel.

The fact that the United States elected a president who has been accused of sexual misconduct by over a dozen women was one of the prominent issues discussed at the protest.

“That we have a president who’s even been thought to have [committed] sexual assault… I think that’s an incredible thing, that people have voted that into our highest position in our country,” said Meredith Rowe, an Ohio native and McGill University student who attended the Montreal rally.

While the majority of attendees were women, there were several male protestors at the event, and many attendees brought young children and grandchildren to the march.

Photo by Ana Hernandez

Bernard Morin, a protester who brought his young son, said he felt the event was a way to set an example for his child. “I want to make sure that his future is better than what could happen in the next few years. It’s an initiation for him,” Morin said.

While the original march took place in America’s capital, Global News claims that over 600 sister marches were held on every continent—including Antarctica. Demonstrations were held in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and a number of other Canadian cities on Saturday, along with the Montreal rally. Global News also estimated that 5,000 protesters showed up for the Montreal protest, while the Los Angeles Times estimated that about 500,000 protesters marched in Washington D.C. and at least three million more attended protests worldwide.

Check out our coverage of the Montreal Women’s March on Washington below.

Article updated on Jan. 31. 2024 – One of the sources listed in this article has come forth and requested to be anonymous.

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