December 6, 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of the murder of 14 women in Montreal, at the Universite de Montreal's engineering school.

This is a most horrible of crimes, given the 14 women were murdered simply because they were women. On the 20th anniversary of their deaths, let us remember these women and move forward by taking action to end violence against women.

There is still much work that needs to be done in the fight to maintain and promote equality of the sexes. Until all women in Canada have true economic and social equality, ending the violence we experience is not possible. Fighting violence, we have learned, requires an integrated approach. A law and order agenda, by itself, will not end violence against women.

There are even recent examples in which victims of domestic violence are being charged in domestic violence situations. This potentially renders women and their children even more financially and emotionally dependent on their abusers. This type of approach does nothing to promote economic and social equality of women. Promoting women's equality, socially and economically, is where governments must focus their efforts.

Efforts also need to focus on building public awareness of the many faces that abuse can take and how to recognize the signs of resistance in women.

How can social and economic equality be achieved? By ensuring the following:

• affordable and safe housing;

• a living minimum wage;

• pay equity;

• a national public child care program;

• equal access to employment insurance;

• access to justice, including the resources to challenge court cases that may violate human rights, and legal aid;

• support for women's centres and shelters, and front line advocacy and support;

• support and protection in law for women who report any type of abuse; and

• increased public awareness of the "faces of women and children" who resist violence.

Please join the Status of Women Council and their coalition in a ceremony of remembrance for those who died needlessly 20 years ago. This National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women will take place on Sunday, Dec. 6 at the Salvation Army Church at 2 p.m.

In understanding our past, we can move forward into the future.

- Sonja Boucher is vice-president (NWT) of the Northern Territories Federation of Labour