I am bothered by what I read in the May 13 newspaper. So much so that I felt compelled to write to you today. It was stated by Kelly Fehr that there is “no gap” in services with the closure of the Vernon Women’s Centre. He further stated the Gateway shelter has stepped in to offer laundry and shower services. This implies that this is all that the Women’s Centre did. The centre did much more than that.
As stated in prior news reports they also provided food, personal hygiene and beauty products. In addition, the centre also offered self-empowerment workshops, a bad date hotline and a bad date list to keep the street working women informed and safe. The centre also offered a much needed women’s only space where they could confide with their peers in confidence. This is really only the front end work that was being conducted.
There was also community events that have been co-ordinated by the centre, such as Take Back the Night and International Women’s Day. For women should feel safe and be celebrated for their accomplishments and uniqueness. Furthermore the centre also worked behind the scenes to fight inequality and for a woman’s right to choose. For it is still difficult for women to be paid the same and taken just as serious as men when working in positions of power or in politics. It is still hard for women to even get into these positions.
A recent statistic that I read further proving this point is that women make up 52 per cent of the Canadian population yet only occupy 22 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons.
As a woman, I do think that there will be a gap and to say otherwise is inaccurate and unfair and really undermines all of the hard work that the Vernon Women’s Centre did for 30 years.
K. Cornell
Vernon
