Gender-based violence must be called what it is – a violent epidemic

Catherine Fife, MPP (Waterloo)

Violence against women, racialized, and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, has been on the rise in communities across Canada, both online and in person for many months. Social media is rife with posts that are intended to incite fear, spread misinformation, or threaten violence.

This week, that violent rhetoric encouraged a person to brazenly walk into the University of Waterloo and stab a Gender Studies professor and two students right in their classroom precisely because of what they were learning.

It matters that this was a targeted attack on a class studying gender issues and it matters that we name it. The perpetrator of this attack certainly knew what he intended. This shocking violence is grounded in the popularization and normalization of radical right-wing discourse that is increasingly targeting and vilifying marginalized people’s existence in our communities.

We need to call it out for what it is.

When we don’t make these connections, and when we refuse to name the violent rhetoric targeting 2SLGBTQ+ people, we become complicit.  

In the aftermath of the attack, it has been difficult. Many of us in the community are struggling. I know that doing critical work to support women, racialized and 2SLGBTQ+ communities – whether in politics, in non-profit organizations, and in the classroom is so important. But on a day like today, it can be draining and frightening.  

My thoughts go out to the professor and students involved, to the Philosophy Department, to past, present, and future Gender Studies students and professors, and to everyone affected by this violence. I’ve been in these classrooms, and I know the importance of those spaces and what they provide. I know how frighting it is to feel the encroachment of such hatred on a space meant to celebrate creativity, conversation, and learning.  

As leaders, it is our job to speak up and name hate-motivated violence when it happens. Wednesday’s attack was without doubt a hate-motivated instance of misogyny.

Ironically, earlier that very same day, the Government of Ontario refused to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.

We need to name this violence, and we need the Ford government to recognize these manifestations of violence and fund the not-for-profit organizations and workers who provide front-line care and education.

We need them to take a real stand to condemn this violence and condemn the harmful rhetoric that circulates online until it hits a boiling point.

The pot is boiling over right now.

We need to take real actions together to protect each other and create a province that is safe for everyone.

This is our path forward. Letting hate win is not an option.

Catherine Fife is the NDP MPP for Waterloo.