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Rose Button Campaign
Support the Rose Campaign, a national advocacy campaign to end violence against women and girls. Between November 25th and December 6th send a Rose to your MP by clicking here.
The Rose campaign is a national advocacy campaign to end violence against women and girls. The Campaign takes its name from the original Rose Button, created almost 20 years ago to commemorate 14 young women who were murdered at l'Ecole Polytechnique, by calling for a national action plan on violence against women and promoting strategies to stop violence in our communities.
The new Rose button has been redesigned by Joss Maclennan, the designer of the original button, with a take action messaging that indicates that we can all work towards stopping violence in our communities.
Why December 6?
December 6 is Canada's National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. In 1989, when 14 women were shot to death in Montreal by a man deliberately targeting women on a busy campus, Canadians reacted with shock, sorrow and outrage. A strong lobby formed to bring guns under control in Canada, work that continues to this day.
December 6 is the day we remember the women who died and re-commit to taking action on violence against women and girls – because Canada is not yet a safe country for women.
Violence Against Women in Canada
Violence against women is the world's largest and most persistent human rights violation, and Canada is no exception. Over 50% of Canadian women will experience violence at some point in their lives, the majority before they turn 25. In most cases, women know their abuser.
The federal government estimates the direct medical costs of violence against women at $1.1 billion per year, plus $4 billion a year for criminal justice, social services, and lost productivity.
In Canada:
- Over 31,000 incidents of spousal violence against women were reported to police in 2006, and it’s estimated that over 70% of incidents go unreported.
- Women are more likely than men to be the victims of the most severe forms of intimate partner abuse, such as homicide, sexual assault and stalking.
- Almost 40% of women in Canada who reported assault by an intimate partner said their children witnessed the violence. In half of those cases, the woman feared for her life.
- The devastating count of missing and murdered Aboriginal women points to a deep-seated gendered and racialized violence in our culture that impacts both Aboriginal women and women of colour.
What you can do to Take Action on Violence Against Women:
- Speak up about violence in your community
- Encourage people who commit violence to get help
- Teach girls to protect and empower themselves
- Raise children who can resolve conflict without violence
- Make sure your home, workplace and community are safe for women and girls
- Speak out against negative media images of women and girls
- Promote women's economic and political equality
- Donate your time and resources to organizations that work to end violence against women
- Remember
Canada needs a national action plan to end violence against women and girls
Ending violence against women requires a major societal shift in our country. To prevent violence before it starts, it must be treated as unacceptable behaviour whenever and wherever it occurs.
Women need full equality in practise, not just in law. That means equal pay, not 73 cents of each dollar earned by men. More than a third of families led by single mothers live below the poverty line.
Women need the ability to establish independent, violence-free households. Governments can make this easier to achieve by ensuring that women:
- can place their children in affordable, high-quality child care and find employment
- find affordable, safe housing when they leave the shelter system, or when they need to leave an unsafe home
- have enough financial support to raise their children.
Our commitment
As part of our commitment to end violence against women and children, YWCA Canada has been the national distributor of the Rose Button since 1991. To date, YWCA Canada has distributed over 400,000 Rose Buttons to schools, shelters, social and government agencies, socially responsible corporations and individuals across Canada.
Want to show your support?
Take action on violence against women by making Rose Buttons, bookmarks and brochures available to your employees, clients, community partners and stakeholders. The Rose Button Campaign is a great fundraising opportunity for groups and organizations that support anti-violence programs and services. Purchase the buttons for 50 cents each and sell them for $1.00 or more.
Want to place an order?
To place an order, click here for English or
here for French.
For further information, you can also contact YWCA Canada at:
Email: national@ywcacanada.ca
Tel: 416-962-8881
Fax: 416-962-8084
Proud Sponsors:
 
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