Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald’s submission in response to the House of Commons Ethics Committee study related to Pornhub
Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald: “There is, from our perspective, a flawed and dangerous risk to Bill C-7 that may not as yet have been considered—in particular the consequences of societal sexism and relational violence. It is our concern, experienced over the past 28 years of developing supportive care for women who have suffered massively as a consequence of being born into families or having married a male spouse who were non-state torturer-traffickers.”
Why are neither Minister for Women and Gender Equality Maryam Monsef nor Nova Scotia Minister for the Status of Women Kelly Regan willing to consider making a feminist analysis part and parcel of the public inquiry into April’s mass shooting?
Misogyny is systemic within mainstream Nova Scotia and Canadian culture and agencies. To prevent male violence against women awareness interventions about socialized and normalized human inequality of women and girls needs to be spoken out loud, just like Canadians talk about the weather.
“For us feminism is not a ‘dirty’ word. For others the word seems to be scary or spells “danger.” Our call for a feminist analysis was ignored by federal and provincial governmental departments during their deliberations on how to address the mass shooting atrocities of a man whose actions or behaviours can only be described as evil.” Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald on what the scary word is all about.
Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald on why the inquiry into the mass shooting requires a feminist analysis that considers femicidal violence as distinct from homicidal violence.
How to describe the mass shooter’s behaviour? This question takes us back to 1993, the year we came face-to-face with the knowledge that there are those who live, work, and play among us, even in Nova Scotia, whose behaviours must be described as actions of human evil, write Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald.
Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald: What is the life and value of a woman or girl worth? Almost nothing if the hard and painful realities of systemic sexism, misogyny, men’s assaults, torture, and femicides are not laid bare on Nova Scotian soil in a federal-provincial inquiry or review. TW graphic descriptions of rape, violence and torture.
“It is time to insist on our caring wisdom—our choice to become a province focused on eliminating decades—no centuries—of relational misogyny and misogyny within our institutions,” write Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald.
Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald on the need for a provincial inquiry with a feminist lens focused on confronting the degrees of men’s violence, including femicides, inflicted against women. “An inquiry must stay local—be voiced locally—to extend healing support and provide a local say in re-designing a non-violent culture for our future.” TW: descriptions of misogynist torture and other acts of male violence against women and children.