November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
It is 35 years since the École Polytechnique massacre in Montréal on December 6, 1989, when fourteen women engineering students were murdered, and another ten women and four men were injured.
Violence against women continues to be scourge of society.
December 6, 1989 is etched in the memories of many Canadians — the date of a horrific anti-feminist mass shooting. A 25-year-old man singled out female engineering students at École Polytechnique in Montréal, murdering 14 women and injuring 10 women and 4 men. Each year, rituals are held across Canada to remember these women and to acknowledge the misogyny and brutal reality of violence that women face merely because of their gender. In 1991, Canada’s Parliament declared December 6 a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
Misogyny Behind Femicides
In the 35 years since the Montréal Massacre, misogyny was a key factor in at least two other mass murders — in 2018 a man intentionally drove a van into pedestrians in Toronto, killing 10 people (8 of them women) and Canada’s deadliest mass shooting, in April 2020, when 22 people were killed in Nova Scotia, after the gunman assaulted his partner.
While special days declared by governments or the UN provide heightened recognition of this reality, incidents, such as the brutal rape and murder of a doctor on duty at a hospital in Kolkata in August, are a reminder that women everywhere and anywhere face violent misogyny. This femicide sparked mass protests against gender-based violence across India and in the Indian diaspora internationally.
Billionaire Predators Shielded from Scrutiny
Serial sexual abusers, many of whom are very wealthy men, pose another threat to women. These billionaire predators include founder of Magna International, Frank Stronach, charged with 18 criminal offenses, including rape, sexual assault and forcible confinement for offences from 1977 to 2024. Peter Nygård, founder of clothing manufacturer Nygård International, was convicted of 4 counts of sexual assault and sentenced to 11 years in prison; charged with 9 counts in New York, he also faces criminal charges in Québec and Manitoba for multiple counts of sexual assault and forcible confinement between the mid-1980s and mid-2000s. Billionaire Robert Miller, former owner of Future Electronics, was arrested for alleged sexual assault and sexual exploitation of minors, between 1994 and 2016. One of his alleged victims was 14 years old. Over 400 women have come forward with allegations of rape and sexual abuse against Mohamed Al-Fayed, former owner of Harrods luxury department store in London. These recent cases — as well as others —raise questions about why rich men are pathological abusers. Money holds power. Does this power imbue them with a sense of entitlement to carry out such despicable behaviour?
While recognizing the perversion of capitalism, a socialist feminist analysis looks squarely at the whole system that both sanctions such deplorable abuse and protects the abuser rather than the abused. Those with obscene wealth are shielded from suspicion and accusations, with the legal system providing further cover for their repulsive conduct. In many of the cases mentioned, there were people in their companies who were aware of the abusive behaviour, but none stood up to their powerful bosses. Harrods’ employees, for example, describe Al-Fayed’s constant abuse of young women as “an open secret.” Yet, it is only after he died that this abuse came to wider attention.
Fighting Misogyny Means Fighting Capitalism
The protection of abusers is built into class society, where women play a subordinate role in society. It takes courage for women to stand up to men who exercise power and domination over them. This is the courage of women like Gisèle Pelicot in France, who publicly came forward to raise awareness of the type of abuse she endured when she was drugged and raped by over 50 men, arranged by her then-husband.
Fighting femicide and sexual abuse means fighting the misogyny that is woven into the fabric of society — it means fighting capitalism, which depends on the exploitation and oppression of many in order to benefit a few. As socialist feminists, we stand up to abuse and applaud the courage of women who resist and speak out. Yet, we must not stop there. We must work towards challenging and dismantling capitalism and replacing it with socialism and a world where women and men are equally valued.
