My Journey

Born in Canada, I have lived in different parts of this country, traveled to many parts of the world, and recently resettled in Montreal where I grew up. I am the second child of six, the one girl. My parents held equal expectations and encouragement for us all, and both their families had been taught to respect and never, ever harm a woman. I realized soon that it was not so, in the larger world.

I have been active in the Women’s Movement since the late 1960’s We opened women’s centres, battered women’s shelters, rape crisis centres. We spoke out about all forms of discrimination, especially about women being beaten up, raped and killed. I have long known that violence against girls and women existed everywhere, and I longed to be able to find my sisters globally. Now we have WorldPulse. I celebrate each new sister I meet. I celebrate my deepening relationships with so many of you. I celebrate the stories of all of the meetings, the strategizing, the emergence of real change. The strength of WorldPulse lies in these stories that we are gathering, and in these close ties that are forming as we continue to share what we are doing and discuss what we can do.

My plan for 2017 is to cross Canada, meeting with as many as possible, finding women who have never had the chance to tell their stories, and also involving the many activists here, with World Pulse. I see the potential of a much broader and involved connection of Canadian sisters into World Pulse, with stronger connections with each other, and more able to reach into our communities with shared information. The more that women and girls are aware of what is being done the more able we are to together spotlight and effect change anywhere and everywhere. I want to be more effective than ever in describing what we now have, and I want to learn and be able to teach every communication technique available online to enhance this communication.

For me, this journey is getting long. I expected there to be no more violence against women - any women - a long time ago. Now I believe that we are in a historical moment due to the momentum we are creating globally. We are strong together in ways we have never been before. This is what I celebrate. This is what I live to make happen.