Stop the violence

They were shot because they were women.

   On Dec. 6, 1989, 14 women were murdered at École Polytechnique de Montréal. A little more than a week after the country marked the anniversary of the murders by observing the National Day of Remembrance and Action against Women and Girls, four young people on Highway 2 were forever robbed of a brilliant future.

   In the early morning hours of Dec. 15, Tabitha Stepple, 21, of Lethbridge, was killed by her ex-boyfriend, Derek Jensen, north of Claresholm. Stepple’s friend Shayna Conway, 21, was shot three times and survived. The gunman killed Conway’s boyfriend Tanner Craswell, 22, and his friend Mitch MacLean, 20, before turning the gun on himself.

On Saturday, police said they had no knowledge of any domestic troubles that led the Lethbridge man to kill the ex-girlfriend who lived with him, two other men, and himself.

“The only determination we can make at this time is it’s a failed romantic, domestic situation and it was his choice to commit the murders,” Calgary RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb said on Dec. 17.

While some media outlets quoted sources who said the relationship between Jensen and Stepple was a volatile one, what can’t be disputed is that four young people lost their lives unjustly in their prime.

When Statistics Canada looked at the rate of domestic violence in the country between 1999 and 2004, it found rates of spousal violence were highest among certain segments of the population, including people between the ages of 15-24, people in relationships of three years or less, people who were separated and people in common-law unions. The data also showed female victims were twice as likely as male victims to be stalked by a previous spouse. Eleven per cent of female victims and six per cent of male victims reported being stalked by a previous boyfriend or girlfriend.

 Studies have shown that family violence might occur as many as 35 times before the victim first tells anyone. When a gun’s been fired and four people are dead, it’s too late to talk about prevention of domestic violence. That’s why Canadians have to be proactive. They have to involve teaching children respect about boys and girls. It has to involve discussions at kitchen tables and adjusting attitudes about gender-based violence in locker rooms, schools and workplaces.

“A society that tolerates any level of violence against women is neither a healthy nor a just society,” Rona Ambrose, minister of Public Works and Government Services, and Status of Women, said during the National Day of Remembrance.

But to end all forms of violence against women, it’s going to take a collaborative effort by all Canadians.