Nunavik residents walk to stop violence against women

KUUJJUAQ — People throughout Nunavik can support stopping violence against women on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

In Kuujjuaq, a parade leaves the offices of the Nunavik region health board at 11:30 a.m. on the first “day for the elimination of violence against women” in Nunavik, the United Nation’s international day for the elimination of violence against women.

Marchers will wind their way through town, passing by schools and workplaces, to end up at the Kaitittavik town hall.

There, Kuujjuaq’s new mayor Paul Parsons and others are to speak. A lunch of hot dogs, donated by the youth house, and country food follows.

Nunavimmiut in other communities will also be able to participate in marches, radio call-in shows and other events to raise awareness about violence against women and work on ways to stop it.

Many will also wear white ribbon pins in the shape of an upside-down “V,” a symbol of the call to stop violence against women and to remember women who have died as a result of violence.

On Nov. 25 Inukjuak is planning to hold a local call-in radio program to get youth talking about the positive things they recognize about women in their lives, said Lisa Uqaituk Koperqualuk of Nunavik’s Saturviit women’s association.

To promote phone-ins, prizes will be offered to each category of caller, such as young boys, young girls, teenage boys, teenage girls, she said.

Everyone who calls in will have their name put in for a draw at the end of the show, with suitable prizes for each age group to be handed out.

“Youngsters will be encouraged to phone in about their mothers and grandmothers, and sisters. Teenagers will be encouraged to talk about the same, plus teachers, girlfriends, and other women they identify in the community,” Koperqualuk said by email.

Salluit plans to hold a special breakfast for women as well as a march, a radio-call in show with elders and an evening event for men.

In Kangiqsualujjuaq, similar events are also planned for Nov. 25.

The date also marks the deadline for a regional poster and essay contest.

A regional poster contest asks Nunavimmiut to make a drawing, paste photos or do a scrapbook to show what they feel is “good about eliminating violence in Nunavik.”

The prizes, which will be handed out to the three top winners in the youth and adult categories, include two round-trip Air Inuit tickets, with a value of up to $5,600, Apple iPods and healthy food coupons worth $100.

An essay contest invites secondary school students to reflect on the theme “stop violence in our lives.”

The winners of the two contests will be announced in mid-December — and the posters and essays will be used in future health board materials to promote the elimination of violence in Nunavik.