Family skate raises awareness during Woman Abuse Prevention Month

Mike Lawrence - Staff Writer

The First Step Women’s Shelter held their annual Free Family Skate in recognition of November being Woman Abuse Prevention Month on Saturday, November 13. The event, which ran from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m., was held in conjunction with the Municipality of Sioux Lookout at the Sioux Lookout Memorial Arena. 

For the past five years, shelters across the province have been using November to engage with communities on the issue of woman abuse in Ontario. The month-long awareness campaign coincides with the United Nation’s International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women which was established by the UN General Assembly on Nov 25, 1999. Violence against women is an ongoing problem globally but the pandemic has exacerbated the issue, leading to an increase in incidences. As the website for UN Women reports, “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, emerging data, and reports from those on the front lines, have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified.”

But why? According to UN Women (https://www.unwomen.org/en), one factor may be that, with the necessity of immediate COVID relief, some countries have reallocated resources and efforts away from violence against women initiatives. As the Government of Canada’s website (https://bit.ly/3kEU0Ne) explains, globally, “Experts and advocacy groups are reporting that incidences of domestic abuse have intensified under COVID-19, triggered by the social and economic impact of the public health emergency. In the developing world especially, the pandemic and measures to mitigate it have vastly raised levels of sexual and gender-based violence, including the exploitation and abuse of children, as well as violence against marginalized communities, such as women who are rural, migrant and living with disabilities. Social restrictions leave many isolated in homes with heightened tensions, without income from informal jobs, overburdened as caregivers and lacking the support and protection of schools and community centres.” The UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women refers to this surge as the Shadow Pandemic.

While the event was held in recognition of Woman Abuse Prevention Month, its purpose was to bring the community out for an enjoyable evening on the ice. 

As Carmelia Agustin, Program Manager for the First Step Women’s Shelter (FSWS) explained, “Every year in November for Woman Abuse Prevention Month we do a free family skate through the First Step Women’s Shelter. The Sioux Lookout Recreation Centre always provides us with a couple of hours of free ice time. We weren’t able to do it the last two years because of COVID, so we’re doing it again this year and we really appreciate the Rec Centre being able to donate two hours of free ice for the public. It’s really to acknowledge that November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month and to get our information out there, and also to provide some free stuff, free take-aways. It gives the public a chance to see who we are and what we are all about. We have free hot chocolate and cookies and muffins, and the kids really love that. It gets the community out to enjoy themselves, too.”