Beatrice Deer adds her voice to effort to stop violence against women

Beatrice Deer is one of many artists set to take the stage in a charity concert Saturday at the Le Ministère venue in Montreal.

Called Hera, the event aims to raise awareness about violence against women. Performers include Matt Holubowski, Frannie Holder and Mishka Stein.

Deer brings Nunavik’s perspective to the conversation.

The event is scheduled to coincide with the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, which was established by Parliament after the gender-based killings at Montreal Polytechnique in 1989.

“It is important to give our time and efforts to good causes,” Deer said in a phone interview.

The show’s earnings will be given to La Dauphinelle, a women’s shelter that offers psychological support in Montreal.

“I know what it is like to struggle in a domestic violence relationship. I was in one when I was very young,” she said. “I got out of it with lots of support and effort.”

She said Nunavik needs more resources to support the emotional well-being of Nunavimmiut.

“There are not enough safe spaces available, not just for women but everywhere,” she said.

Kuujjuaq, Salluit and Inukjuak are the only communities in Nunavik with women’s shelters, according to the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services.

Family houses, which also act as a safe space, are operational in Kuujjuaraapik, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Salluit, Kangiqsujuaq, and Puvirnituq.

Half of Nunavik communities do not have access to either a women’s shelter or a family house.

“They say it takes, on average, 10 attempts for someone to leave a domestically violent relationship,” said Deer. “So women need a lot of emotional support to successfully get out.”

She said she is calling upon Nunavimmiut to donate to the two places in Nunavik that offer emotional well-being services: Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre and the Aaqitauvik Healing Centre.

“I know people like to give to organizations during the holidays,” she said.

This week, Deer released a single called Arranged featuring Kuujjuaq singer-songwriter Johnny Saunders.

She says the indie-rock track is about arranged marriages, which was a common practice in traditional Inuit culture up until the 1970s.

“It wasn’t fun for everyone, but they had to obey their parents’ arrangements to marry whoever they selected,” she said.

Arranged marriages became a cultural practice out of the need for survival.

The song takes a first-person point of view inside what it would be like being in an arranged marriage. Deer said she based her words on elders who shared their experiences to an Inuit culture class she attended in high school.

“I had a very passionate Inuit history teacher, and that really sparked that passion in me too,” she said.