Walk, vigil planned in Iqaluit for National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

People can wear purple or a white ribbon on Saturday — the 36th annual National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women — to show their support for ending gender-based violence.

In remembrance of the 14 women who were killed on Dec. 6, 1989, at Polytechnique Montréal in an act of misogyny, the day gives people the chance to honour victims of gender-based violence and raise awareness of the issue.

In Iqaluit there is a walk planned to mark the day, organized the the status of women council, Government of Nunavut, Nunavut Law Society and the RCMP.

The walk in Iqaluit will begin Saturday at 2 p.m. at the four corners intersection on Queen Elizabeth Way. It will end at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum, where a remembrance event will follow.

The Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council is encouraging people in communities throughout the territory to don these colours or otherwise honour the day in their own way.

“You can create safe spaces to hold conversations about sexism, violence against women, girls, female-identifying and gender non-conforming people, and the [LGBTQ2S+] community,” said Cate Macleod, the council’s executive director, in a news release Thursday.

Other suggested activities include observing a moment of silence at 11 a.m. or organizing or attending a local vigil.

The council reports Inuit women experience violence at a rate 14 times above the national average and that Indigenous women are more likely to experience physical or sexual abuse during childhood than non-Indigenous women.