Abused women live with the emotional, psychological and sometimes physical scars of their abuse. Except when they don't. The danger escalates with the abuse and too often women are murdered.

December 6, 2011 marks the 22nd anniversary of the horrific murders of 14 women at L'École Polytechnique in Montréal. In response to the shocking gender- based massacre, Canadians have been observing this day as our National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

Tragically, the relevance of this day remains as more than 476 women and 57 children have been murdered in Ontario by their partners since 1990. Countless more women across Canada are murdered or missing simply because they are women, particularly among our Aboriginal communities. These numbers continue to grow daily and do not account for the tens of thousands of women and children who continue to live in abusive situations.

The most recent Stats Canada annual shelter survey, which takes a "snapshot" of every shelter across the country, shows that on April 15, 2010 there were 593 shelters in Canada offering services to abused women, up from 569 in 2008 due to rising demand. On this day, 4,645 women were residing in these shelters and 426 women were turned away from shelters due to shelters having reached full capacity (full report available at statcan.gc.ca). These numbers only reflect the women who have accessed services and do not reflect the vast number of abused women who are still trapped in dangerous relationships.

Communities across the country are coming together on December 6 to honour those women, show their support for ending violence against women and take action to make lasting change.

To effectively break the persistent cycles of woman abuse, the root causes of violence need to be addressed. Gender inequalities, poverty rates, maintaining the gun registry, access to affordable housing and childcare are all directly related to an abused woman's ability to escape the violence and live free from fear and harm.

Sustainable funding for women's anti-violence agencies is urgently needed if they are to continue trying to break the cycle of abuse, prevent violence for girls and women (and their children), and help survivors of abuse heal from their ordeals.

On this year's National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, you can show your support by attending local events (check with our women's shelter for details), by attending a service on campus to be held at noon in the Alumni Lounge in the Student Centre, by contacting our MPP to demand immediate, concrete action to end violence and by being vocal in our community about how violence against women is intolerable. More information about the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women is available online at the Ministry for the Status of Women Canada and at oaith.ca
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.