Event announcement
November 5, 2015

Toronto, ON–On December 5th, join the Philippine Women Centre of Ontario, along with women leaders and organizers from across communities, as we take up the important question of ending violence against women at our public forum, “Taking the Revolutionary Road: Ending Violence Against Women”. Women at the frontlines, who are fighting against sex trafficking and prostitution, and for childcare, women’s health and reproductive justice, are coming together to tackle Canada’s implicit role in perpetuating systemic violence against women. The forum is set to take place at the University of Toronto, St. George campus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Room 5260.

While the struggle to end violence against women has always been central to the work of the feminist movement, escalating levels of violence continues to persist and permeate all women’s lives today. As working class women of colour, we recognize that violence against women goes beyond individual instances, and is part of a broader framework of legislated violence that has manifested in the policies that Canada has either implemented or failed to implement and which affect our communities most deeply. From the lack of affordable public childcare, to Canada’s Caregiver Program that exploits the labour of Third World women, to the cuts in reproductive services, to the failure into the investigation of missing and murdered Indigenous women, it is evident that the Canadian government continues to fail in genuinely addressing the violence that persists well into the lives of women today. Without uprooting the very systems of violence that uphold women’s oppression and exploitation, we cannot move forward in the struggle for genuine women’s liberation.

This forum aims to discuss the systemic violence against women, and to denounce the racist, patriarchal and colonial system inherent in Canada’s anti-woman policies and regulations.

As we advance the struggle towards women’s genuine equality and liberation, we are taking up the task in heightening our solidarity and sharpening our analysis towards ending violence against women. From the home, to our work and in the systems of domination that uphold women’s oppression and exploitation, there is no place for violence in the lives of women and our communities everywhere. This forum will provide a space to take our next steps in coming together to continue our revolutionary path in advancing the movement for genuine women’s liberation.

**More details to be announced
Refreshments and snacks to be served at 12:30PM
Presentations starting at 1PM

“Taking the Revolutionary Road: Ending Violence Against Women”
Public Forum
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
252 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON
Room 5260 (5th floor)

For more information, contact:
Charie Siddayao
Philippine Women Centre
416-519-255