In Search of Lost Time: Gendered violence is learned behaviour

Columns November 27, 2013

On December 6, the Camosun College Women’s Collective will be hosting a poetry slam and spoken word event to raise awareness around gendered violence.

The focus of the evening will be the stories, experiences, and performances of those who have suffered from gender violence or have lost loved ones due to systemic brutality aimed particularly at women in western society.

In media such as television, film, video games, literature, and the news, women are treated either as sexualized objects or the victims of brutality. However, there’s another consideration: what about women who are so marginalized in western society that their suffering remains invisible and silenced by the mechanisms of colonialism and racism?

Indigenous peoples may be absent from the multibillion-dollar industry of voyeuristic media portraying acts of brutality; however, they are certainly not estranged from the brutal acts of racism, colonialism, government legislation, white privilege, institutional oppression, sexism, classism, and, worst of all, inaction.

Gendered violence is a systemic and structural problem in this country that has pervaded unchecked. What are we doing? What more can we do? The first step in creating a dialogue is listening.

Please join us on December 6 at the Victoria Event Centre from 5Đ8 pm. Remembrance in our hearts and honour through action!