As part of the 16 days of activism against violence against women campaign, the Canadian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, hosted a panel discussion on Tuesday December 2nd in partnership with Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, Amnesty International Canada, Oxfam, Inter Pares, Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada, and MATCH International Women’s Fund.
Approximately 50 individuals were in attendance, including Members of Parliament (representing all of Canada’s major political parties), Parliamentarian legislative assistants, civil society, academia, government officials and activists.
The event centered on the question: ‘is this Canada’s watershed moment to take meaningful action to address violence against women?’ Beginning with the recognition that the issue of violence against women continues to garner attention on Parliament Hill, across Canada, and around the world, the event invited representatives from all political parties to discuss what their parties are doing to meaningfully address these issues and what concretely needs to be done to achieve real progress, at home and globally.
All panelists recognized the need for the issue of violence against women to be raised in the context of the upcoming federal election, highlighting the recently launched ‘Up for Debate’ campaign which aims to do so. Concretely, panelists discussed the urgent need for a national action plan on violence against women, alongside an inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women. In the context of Canada’s actions globally, the issue of greater respect and protection of women’s sexual and reproductive rights was raised, particularly as critical elements to meeting the needs of survivors of sexual violence.
Originally posted by WIIS Canada with slight adaptation