Castlegar to air dirty laundry in Spirit Square ...while enjoying a nice lunch
By Castlegar Source
Castlegar will be airing some dirty laundry in Spirit Square next week, as the Second Annual Clothesline Event turns a spotlight on domestic violence.
The lunch hour of this Tuesday, April 19th, will see Spirit Square beside City Hall boasting a vibrant, colourful display of hundreds of T-shirts painted by local school children, organizations and interest groups around the themes of violence and healing.
“Getting people thinking and talking about the issue of domestic violence is a critical first step in prevention,” said event organizer Kyra Hoggan. “To that end, we have Mayor Lawrence Chernoff and RCMP Cpl. Deb Postnikoff speaking at the event, and KBS Radio will broadcast live on location.”
Since it’s a lunch hour occasion, M&M Meats has offered to provide a barbecue, to be manned by city councillors Deb McIntosh, Kevin Chernoff and Russ Hearne, along with fire chief Gerry Rempel. Free juice will be provided, and burgers and hot dogs will sell for just $2.50 each.
“It should be a fun and informative event,” Hoggan said. “Everyone’s welcome to come down and browse the T-Shirts on display, some of which are remarkably creative, and maybe have a bite to eat.”
You might even be able to win a clothesline of your own, from Fortis BC.
She said many of the T-Shirts were decorated by children from Castlegar Primary School and Kinnaird Elementary, while others are the inspiration of local community and church groups.
“Some did a truly spectacular job – it’s well worth the time to look through them.”
The event will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and is sponsored by Castlegar & District Community Services Society, the Columbia Basin Trust, Fortis BC, KBS Radio and the Castlegar Hospital Auxiliary Treasure Shop.
For more information, contact Hoggan at 250-365-2104 or 250-365-5972.
DID YOU KNOW?
Half of Canadian women (51%) have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16.1
Every minute of every day, a Canadian woman or child is being sexually assaulted.2
One to two women are murdered by a current or former partner each week in Canada.3
Spousal violence makes up the single largest category of convictions involving violent offences in non-specialized adult courts in Canada over the five-year period 1997/98 to 2001/02. Over 90% of offenders were male.4
Thirty-six percent of female victims of spousal violence and less than 10% of victims of sexual assault reported these crimes to the police in 2004.5
Physical and sexual abuse costs Canada over $4 billion each year (factoring into account social services, criminal justice, lost employment days and health care interventions).6
Violence against women occurs across all ethnic, racial, religious, age, social and economic groups. Some women are more vulnerable however, and are more likely to experience violence, including women with disabilities, geographically-isolated women, young women and Aboriginal women.1. Statistics Canada, The Violence Against Women Survey, The Daily, November 18, 1993
2. Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, Fact sheet: extrapolated from Ontario Women’s Directorate, Dispelling the Myths about Sexual Assault. Fact sheet, Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 1998
3. Dauvergne, M., (2002), Homicide in Canada – 2001, Juristat 22(7), Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.
4. Statistics Canada, Measuring Violence Against Women, Statistical Trends 2006
5. Ibid
6. L. Greaves, O. Hankivsky, J. Kingston-Riechters, Selected Estimates of the Costs of Violence Against Women. (London, Ontario: Centre for Research on Violence against Women and Children, 1995)
7. Statistics Canada, Measuring Violence Against Women, Statistical Trends 2006
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