Welcome to Guelph’s 2024 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign!

Here you’ll find events, resources, speakers, ideas and insights into how we can create a world where people of all genders can live free from violence.

To learn more about this global United Nations-led campaign, click here.

We’d like to say a special thank you to some amazing local cafés who are supporting the 16 Days campaign this year and shaping a stronger community:

Benjamin’s Bodega, The Bullring, Café 245, The Common, The Cornerstone, DeBAR Dessert Café, Double Rainbow Café, Found Coffee, Guildsmen Café, Kanoo Coffee, Lost Aviator Coffee Co., Nourish Café @ 10C, Planet Bean and The Red Brick Café

Below you’ll find a list of events, as well as insights and ideas on how we can all move the needle on gender-based violence. You’ll discover opportunities to come together as a community, and opportunities to learn, listen and take action as an individual.

We’re keeping the current day at the top, but you can scroll to the bottom of the page to see resources and events from earlier in the campaign.

Check back as details unfold, and follow @gwwic on social media to stay up to date!

Past Events and Resources

November 25

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Lighting Ceremony, Johnston Hall, 5:30 pm

Join us for a lighting ceremony at Johnston Hall on the University of Guelph campus as the U of G lights the Hall up purple in solidarity with survivors of gender-based violence. There will be hot chocolate and cider to keep folks warm. Parking on campus is free after 5! Find a map of parking options here.

16 Days of Activism Info Table, 11:30-2:00pm, University Centre Courtyard

November 26

Listen

Have you ever wondered what happens when someone reaches out for support from an organization like G-W Women in Crisis? Listen to one of our Rural Women’s Support Program counsellors talk about the counselling process, and what she finds most rewarding about supporting survivors.

November 27

Learn

The Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH)’s annual femicide report for 2023-2024 is out now. It is a powerful document that brings home what’s at stake in the movement against gender-based violence. 62 people have died by femicide in Ontario over the past year. Putting faces and names to the numbers, this report gives us an opportunity to honour their lives and learn about the real life impacts of femicide on our communities. A tough read, but essential.

https://www.oaith.ca/assets/library/OAITH-Annual-Femicide-List-2023-2024.pdf

CW: femicide, including cause of death, suicide, killing of children

November 28

Bystander Intervention and Allyship Workshop, University of Guelph – MacKinnon 227, 5:30 pm

Facilitated by the White Ribbon Campaign, this Draw the Line workshop focuses on allyship and safe intervention strategies. Be inspired and walk away with skills and confidence to challenge rape culture and foster male accountability to prevent sexual violence on and off campus.

• This free event is open to all – but male and masculine-presenting people are especially encouraged to attend!
• This event is open to all from the U of G community, as well as youth in Guelph who may not attend the University.
• Free pizza and prizes available!

More information about the workshop can be found online at https://gryphlife.uoguelph.ca/event/278652

Learn more about Draw the Line at https://www.dtl.whiteribbon.ca/

November 29

Listen

Miss the allyship and bystander intervention workshop last night? There are lots of opportunities to learn to be an ally, even when that involves having tough conversations with people in your lives about gender-based violence and gender inequality. Listen to legendary American feminist activist Loretta J. Ross’ advice on how to call people in instead of calling people out:

November 30

Learn

Learn more about your relationship with your own partner! Are you in a healthy relationship? Would you know the warning signs to watch out for? Take the Love Is Respect quiz and find out how healthy your relationship is.

December 1

World AIDS Day

Listen

The latest episode of the WIC-Ed Podcast features G-W Women in Crisis Public Educators Ariel Oleynikov and Cindy McMann talking about the connections between HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence, Ariel’s work changing attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, why community support is key to addressing these issues, and more. Listen on Spotify, Apple podcasts, on our website or here:

December 2

Signal for Help Workshop, G-W WIC Main Office, 5:30 pm

Join the Zonta Club of Guelph for a Signal for Help workshop at G-W Women in Crisis’ main office (38 Elizabeth St.).

The Signal for Help Responder Workshop is a life-saving training program that was originally developed by the Canadian Women’s Foundation. Presented by the Zonta Club of Guelph in collaboration with the CWF.

The workshop is designed to train individuals on how to recognize and respond to the signs of domestic violence or abuse. It aims to equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed to identify the warning signs, offer support to survivors and connect them with the appropriate resources.

Individuals will learn how to intervene safely and effectively while emphasizing the importance of self-care and boundary-setting for responders. Responders are encouraged to prioritize their own safety and well-being, as well as that of the survivor while providing support.

There is no cost for this workshop. Registration is open on Eventbrite here.

December 3

Learn

Couldn’t make the Signal for Help workshop last night? Learn the basics of recognizing and responding to the Signal with this quick tutorial from the Zonta Club of Guelph.

December 4

Learn

It’s not useful to talk about gender-based violence in Canada without spotlighting the extreme rates of violence facing Indigenous women, girls, trans, gender-diverse and 2 Spirit folks. We cannot address one issue without addressing the other. The MMIWG2S+ crisis continues in Canada, with only 2 of the 231 Calls for Justice from the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019) completed, and no implementation timeline for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan, released in 2021.

The Final Report tells us that Indigenous women, girls, 2 Spirit, trans and gender-diverse folks are disappeared and murdered at 12 times the rate that non-Indigenous women are (Reclaiming Power & Place, 2019). But statistics can only teach us so much. We need the voices and vision of Indigenous artists to give expression to what numbers never could.

Today, give poet Anna Marie Sewell’s “Washing the World” a read:

December 5

16 Days Film Screening, Silence, 6:00 pm

Join the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) and the Guelph Resource Centre for Gender Empowerment and Diversity (GRCGED) at Silence (46 Essex St.) for a screening of Léa Clermont-Dion and Guylaine Maroist’s 2022 film Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age. From the description:

Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age follows four women and one man whose lives have been particularly affected by online violence: Laura Boldrini, the most harassed female politician in Italy; Kiah Morris, an African-American politician in the state of Vermont who resigned following severe harassment and threats from right-wing extremists; Marion Séclin, a French YouTuber who received more than 40,000 sexist messages, including rape and death threats; Laurence Gratton, a young teacher in Quebec who was harassed for more than five years by a former colleague; and Glen Canning, the father of Rehtaeh Parsons, a young girl who took her life after photos of her rape were spread online.

In this era of increasing online violence targeting women, trans and gender-diverse people, this is an essential watch. You can read more about the film here.

Panel Discussion on Gender-Based Violence in Sport, Online, 1:00 p.m

As part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, Women and Gender Equality Canada’s (WAGE) Gender-Based Violence Knowledge Centre is hosting a dynamic panel discussion on gender-based violence in sport. Join Women and Gender Equality Canada’s (WAGE), White Ribbon, Athletes Empowered and Canadian Women and Sport come together to discuss gender-based violence in sport. Panelists will dive into the impacts, the topic of ‘safe sport’ and what is being done to prevent and address gender-based violence in sport. Register here!

For any questions about this event please contact WAGE’s GBV Knowledge Centre at: fegc.csvfs-gbvkc.wage@fegc-wage.gc.ca. 

December 6

The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Femicide Vigil, Guelph Civic Museum Patio, 12:00pm

Today marks the anniversary of the École Polytechnique Massacre, also known as the Montreal Massacre, an antifeminist mass shooting in which 14 women, mostly engineering students, were killed. The event galvanized the nation around the issue of femicide, and remained Canada’s worst mass shooting until the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, which also began as an act of intimate partner violence.

December 6th was designated as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in 1991. To find out more about the young women we lost that day, you can visit this CBC feature article.

Join us for our annual vigil at the Guelph Civic Museum (52 Norfolk St.) to remember those lives lost to femicide.

December 7

Listen

Women and gender-diverse people with disabilities experience uniquely high rates of violence and unique forms of violence that are often overlooked or dismissed. They also face accessibility barriers that make finding support and safety more challenging, as well as extra layers of revictimization in the criminal legal system. This episode of local podcast The Feminist Shift with Dr. Tammy Bernasky explores the dynamics of gender-based violence and disabilities and the strategies we can put in place to make support systems more effective.

December 8

Women in Craft Market, Royal City Brewing Company, 11am-4pm

Vivien Graham Wax Works will be at Royal City Brewing Company (199 Victoria Rd. S.) showcasing women in craft and raising funds for survivors of gender-based violence. Shop local women artisans, enjoy delicious food and drinks, take in live musical performance by the incredible CJ Cooper, and help support Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis. Find full details on the event page.

December 9

Take Action

In 2022, Renfrew County Coroner’s Jury completed an inquest into the 2015 deaths of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam, who were killed by a man with a history of violence against them. The jury made 86 recommendations, and the top recommendation was for the Province of Ontario to declare intimate partner violence (IPV) an epidemic.

The province has refused to do so, despite the federal government and 95 Ontario municipalities (including Guelph) making declarations of their own. In April, provincial NDP-created Bill 173, a bill to declare IPV a province-wide epidemic, passed Second Reading but was sent to committee, where it is languishing.

We do not need to study the issue of IPV any more. We have decades of research, as well as a heartbreaking number of coroner’s inquest recommendations and survivor voices telling us what we need to do to stem this tide.

You can take action now. Sign MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam’s petition to the Ontario government and lend your voice to the growing chorus calling for the government to make this declaration and then meaningfully tackle this crisis.

December 10

International Human Rights Day

Zonta Says NO 2024 Summit, Online and On-Demand

Join Zonta International for a day of live speakers, including Susan Strand, Tony Porter and Elizabeth Flock. Each speaker will give their own expertise and perspective and allow for a questions from participants. Recordings of all sessions will be available for all those who purchase a ticket.

Admission is US$10 per person (plus fees), with all proceeds going to the Zonta Foundation for Women International Service Fund to support global initiatives to address gender-based violence. For more information and to register for tickets, click here.