North Bay women and men gathered on the overpass to Lakeshore Drive Friday afternoon as part of a worldwide event called Join Me on the Bridge.
It started on an African bridge where Rwandan and Congolese women gathered to show their communities connecting and building bridges of peace and hope for a better future.
Organizer Kathleen Jodouin of the NE Women’s Health Alliance says the Join Me on the Bridge event is in its third year.
“We stand with these women to give them strength and to show we support their demands for peace and equality.”
Jodouin says now we gather for the 1200 missing and murdered women in Canada. “I absolutely support the call for an inquiry.”
While solidarity is shown for the plights of global women, many shouted for peace in First Nations communities here at home.
President of the Indian Friendship Centre, Dot Beaucage-Kennedy says, “That’s why we are here.”
“We need to see a full inquiry by the federal government. The violence to our women is an epidemic that needs to be addressed fast.”
The Executive Director of Amelia Rising Sexual Assault Centre, Brenda Quenneville, called the event a great opportunity to show we are stronger together.
The Join Me on the Bridge walk is part of the International Women’s Week. The official International Women’s Day is on March 8th. The day has been recognized since the early 1900s to highlight inequality.
Women in the Canadian military got the right to vote in 1917, with other women allowed in 1918.
Inuit women and men were allowed to vote in 1950 while First Nations women and men were given the right to vote in 1960.
As a wrap up to International Women’s Week, Quenneville invites the public to Tuesday’s Eve-olution, a fundraiser for Amelia Rising Sexual Assault Centre. Curtains rise at 7:30 pm at Chippewa Secondary School to showcase local women’s talents. Women will entertain through singing, dancing, drumming, comedy and storytelling.
Please check out more photos through the photo gallery link.
