I will admit it. I love elections. I still get a buzz of excitement in my body when I go to the polling station and mark my X on the ballot. For me, elections offer opportunity and possibility – something that feels so necessary in the current political climate.
It has been hard to look away from the news in the United States and watch the unfolding series of events regarding Roe vs Wade. And while it is easy to dismiss the news cycle as, ‘not being about us [Canada],' the reality is, as was so aptly named by Mohini Datta-Ray, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Toronto (PPT), “every time a high profile…stunt is carried off in the US or Canada, it opens the door slightly wider here in Canada. It shifts the benchmark of what is acceptable to even debate.”
PPT continues to share information through ‘Access Canada for Sexual Health and Rights’ about access to safe abortion clinics by offering some harrowing data that demonstrates in Ontario, there are only 11 abortion providers while there are 77 crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), which are widely known as anti-abortion organizations. Moreover, many of these CPCs are located in smaller communities where there are no abortion providers. Given this information, for me, the connection between Roe vs Wade and local politics feels more pressing than ever. The direct affront to people who have uteruses is deeply rooted in gender-based violence, something that we work towards eradicating on a daily, hourly, basis.
What I know, from the work that we do every day, and what the pandemic has taught us, is that gender-based violence is as prevalent, if not more prevalent, than ever before. As recently as last week, my ears perked up as the Supreme Court of Canada issued a decision that ‘defendants accused of violent crimes such as homicide and sexual assault can use self-induced extreme intoxication as a defence’. Upon closer review of this decision, it is far more nuanced than initially presented and the likelihood that someone who is solely intoxicated will avoid criminal responsibility is largely false. However, what remains concerning to me is the fact that the courts are already, notoriously, unfavourable to survivors of violence and sexual violence.
Statistically, we understand the disproportionate rates by which women experience violence: four out of every five victims of intimate partner violence identify as women and women are five times more likely to experience sexual assault, but sadly, those statistics do not translate into action. In 2017, only 34% of reported sexual assault cases in Canada led to charges.
It would also be short sighted to not name that due to deeply entrenched colonial, racist and sexist systems, those with intersecting identities face an increased risk and vulnerability to violence, in particular, Indigenous and racialized women and gender diverse communities. This means that it is impossible not to note how the debate in the US and the impacts of violence will impact specific communities to an even greater degree. So, when I look at our provincial party platforms and investments in communities and where and how money flows, I look with a feminist and anti-oppressive lens to inform my decision-making. I look for language in each party platform that outlines a plan to repeal Bill 124, which disproportionately impacts women-concentrated fields, and as our YWCA Ontario gender equity campaign has pointedly stated, I look for platforms that seeks to ‘eliminate red tape that prevents women without status from being able to attain housing and social assistance, including child benefits.’
While I see opportunity and possibility in voting and in elections, I also see it as a necessity and a requirement for creating a more equitable and just society. I look for sound leadership. Someone to set the agenda. An agenda that really centers on eradicating gender-based violence and understands the deep systems of oppression that uphold that violence.
--
Bio: Nina Gorka, Director of Shelters and Clinical Services at YWCA Toronto.
Photo Credit: Canva Photos