Madam Chair, tonight, as we share our stories, comments and feelings about what has been happening, I would like to split my time with the member for Mégantic—L'Érable.
We take time to mourn the loss of seven women who died as victims of heinous acts of femicide in Quebec these last several weeks: Elisapee Angma, Nancy Roy, Marly Edouard, Myriam Dallaire, Sylvie Bisson, Nadège Jolicoeur and Rebekah Harry. May they rest in peace. My heart and prayers are with their families. May their stories compel us to take greater action to combat gender-based violence and protect women.
Last Saturday, Rebekah Harry was maimed and wounded in her apartment in LaSalle, Quebec. She died three days later. She was attacked by her boyfriend. Sadly, Rebekah's story is not an isolated incident. Intimate partner violence is a crisis in our country. On average, one woman is killed every two and a half days. One in three women and girls in Canada will face some sort of violence in their lifetime.
According to Statistics Canada, in 2018, of the 174,613 women who experienced violence, 78,852 experienced intimate partner violence. There is also the overrepresentation of indigenous women suffering domestic violence. They are three times more likely to report domestic violence than non-indigenous women. These statistics are deeply alarming.
Unfortunately, the pandemic has exacerbate domestic violence, the majority of whom are women victims. In a status of women committee meeting, a first nations leader testified that many indigenous women were more afraid of their violent partners than COVID-19. We need to take that statement seriously.
Because of lockdowns, exit strategies are difficult to execute for women trapped with their perpetrators. In many rural areas, women do not have easy access to transportation to be able to escape to cities where they can find a shelter. As many social services have gone online, remote areas with poor access to broadband makes it particularly telling for women to access services virtually. Both transportation and broadband services need to be more accessible to these women to give them a means to escape and find help.
The bottom line across Canada is that isolation from lockdowns empowers violent partners to gain more control over a woman's ability to escape. With added anxiety and frustrations from economic instability and lockdowns, domestic conflict has increased. In addition, limited social contact means fewer opportunities for friends and family to recognize and intervene in domestic abuse. With the drastic lockdown measures, we have to protect Canadians from the spread of COVID-19, but we must also take drastic measures to protect women from domestic violence. We need to provide more shelters and transition housing, and support the advancement of a national action plan on gender-based violence.
On multiple occasions in the House, I have spoken about the need for a national framework for mental health, and I am so glad our party supports that. Family wellness is critical. We need to help the provinces provide more social work and counselling for families and individuals so they can heal, manage their conflicts better and learn to love themselves and others in healthier ways.
We need to examine the criminal justice system and policies for law enforcement response to ensure women feel safe through their cases and do not suffer in silence.
Men need mentoring to know how to treat women with respect. Fathers and male authority figures need to learn to treat women with more respect and model it to counter toxic masculinity.
We also need to empower more girls and women to have stronger self-esteem. They need to learn how to identify and reject abusive behaviour. The problem with domestic violence is that it continues even after the perpetrator is outside of that woman's life, with PTSD and the rebuilding of their self-esteem. That is why they need support.
I would like to call upon my 337 colleagues in the House to stand with me in a concerted effort to protect women. It should not be a partisan issue. It is worthy of our attention and efforts.
I know there are many women out there who are feeling trapped, hopeless, unworthy and have given up on trying to leave their perpetrators. They try to leave only to give up again and again. I would like to send a message to all the women who are struggling right now with domestic violence. If they are watching, I want them to know that they are valuable, loved and beautiful, and what they are experiencing right now is not the lot they were born to live. They were made to explore life and all its possibilities. It may seem impossible for them to break free from their prison right now because their perpetrators seem too powerful for them, but the beauty and power within them is greater than the appearance of power in bullies who harm their partners. I want them to have courage and hope. They do not need to wilt. Fight for their right to live and reach out for help.
