White ribbons were handed out at the Steinbach Pistons game Wednesday night by Agape House to acknowledge the continued presence of domestic violence against women in many communities, including Steinbach.

Counsellor advocate Carrie Bilawchuk says the campaign was launched in 1991 as a direct result of the December 6, 1989 mass shooting at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal which saw 14 women targeted and killed simply because they were women.

She says although domestic violence is experienced by both men and women, statistics show seven out of ten people who are victims of violence are women and girls.

"Statistics show that women and girls experience abuse at a higher rate and that the abuse they experience is more likely to be more extreme, with women about four times as likely to be victims of intimate partner homicide," notes Bilawchuk. "Their forms of abuse are going to be more extreme like choking, beating, being threatened with a knife or a gun, and sexual violence is more prevalent; 80% of victims in dating violence are women."

Bilawchuk notes domestic violence affects both the current community and future generations.

"When somebody is being abused it affects their ability to function from day-to-day. So, maybe in the workplace, they may not be as concentrated as they should be, they may not be as outgoing as they could be, not reaching their full potential. It impacts the people around them, they may not know what to do, they may want to speak out but they might not say anything because it's a family matter. It affects the children, their ability to perform in school or to have a happy, healthy childhood."

She says abuse can also take more subtle forms such as the silent treatment, ghosting, or gaslighting.

"Gaslighting is a form of manipulation to make someone doubt themselves. It questions their memory, their perception, their sanity. Things like lying and saying something didn't happen or they didn't say something when you know they did. It's all the little things put together that you can't quite pinpoint, you just know it doesn't feel right."

Bilawchuk adds her dream would be to work herself out of a job by having violence come to an end altogether.

To honour the 14 women who lost their lives in Montreal 28 years ago and for every women in Manitoba who was killed by violence this year, a vigil will be held at the K.R. Barkman Park in Steinbach on December 6 starting at 6:30.

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