RNAO marks National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (Dec. 6, 2022)

Dec. 6 marks the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in remembrance of the gender-based murders of 14 young women at L'École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1989.

Violence of any kind against women – including nurses, most of whom are women – is deplorable and must be prevented. Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women is an opportunity to remember lives lost and promote the health, wellbeing and safety of all women. RNAO mourns nurses who have lost their lives due to violence against women: Zahra Abdille, Lori Dupont, Sonia Varaschin and Nathalie Warmerdam. 

At this time, we also remember the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), and the need to act on the calls for action into the high and disproportionate rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada.

In memory of all women who have lost their lives, RNAO reaffirms its commitment to fight the hatred that led to these tragedies. Working together, we can detect, prevent and end gender-based violence by remembering and learning from our past, listening to survivors and speaking up against harmful behaviours.

RNAO also deplores and condemns the harassment and intimidation of nurses on the doorsteps of health settings, and at the hands of bystanders, patients and/or their angered family members, especially during the pandemic. All nurses have the right to practise in supportive environments where workplace violence is not tolerated.

RNAO stands with nurses and all women and asks Ontarians to do the same. Honour victims of violence by wearing a white ribbon and observing a moment of silence on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 11 a.m. ET.