Madam Speaker, I am anxious to comment on this debate because the whole question of women's inequality and what it means for violence against women forms very much a part of the work that I do as Minister of Justice on behalf of the government. I am happy that this issue has been put before the House today for discussion. I congratulate members of the Bloc for devoting this opposition day to such an important subject.
By way of comment, may I make it clear to my colleagues that the government is keenly aware of the findings of study after study in recent years which have addressed the issue of violence against women, and which have concluded almost invariably that violence against women is connected directly to the economic inequality of women. As a logical consequence, we will never effectively address violence against women until we come to grips with the causes of the economic inequality and correct them. It is surely a matter of common sense.
Most of the unpaid work done in our society is done by women, whether it is volunteer work or work in the home. There is a body of work done by Marilyn Waring, a New Zealand economist who has studied this phenomenon. She contends persuasively that until we find a way to collect census data to value the work done by women, we will never really have a true picture of their contribution to the economy of our society.
We must also bear in mind that women have a disproportionate responsibility for home and family. Despite the social changes of recent decades, preponderantly it is the woman who must take responsibility for the children and for maintaining a stable home environment for the family. They do so at an enormous cost to their professional aspirations, to their economic and financial opportunities. It is a cost that is often unfair, invariably beyond compensation. In the case of family break-up often it is the cause of real financial hardship.
When women do work too often they are consigned to the pink collar ghettos; clerical or secondary, supportive roles in the workforce that deny them the opportunities for fulfilment in the development and use of their full potential. We are told by those who keep statistics that 80 per cent of the clerical positions in the country are held by women. Even when they work in full time positions women earn 72 cents for every dollar earned by men in full time employment.
This ties directly to violence. Women are constrained to stay in abusive relationships by economic necessity for themselves and their children. Because they are in a disadvantaged category in society they do not necessarily have access to means of help to get out of those relationships, with tragic consequences for themselves and for the children.
This issue is of such significance and breadth that I cannot do justice to it in the few minutes allotted to me today. If there is anything I would record for the House before I sit down, it is the profound commitment of the government to do whatever it can in the mandate that the people have given us to address the issues we are discussing today.
In some small way we must start a process of broadening people's understanding of the questions, of working toward their resolution, of turning around the attitudes of people against violence against women and the economic inequality of women so that together, with a better understanding of the issue and a common resolve to see it addressed, we can improve the situation for the young women of Canada who will tomorrow come into their own.