European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visiting the globally renowned misogynist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara suffered incomprehensible sexism in the most reprehensible display of marginalization of women in modern times, says Katie Alsop, a founder of RINJ women. Alsop also claims feminists around the world are “seeing red” over the incident. She had some strong words for Erdogan.
President von der Leyen and many of her colleagues made essentially the same comments recently, in less scolding terms.
“This outright display of hatred for women is at a pandemic level as the global patriarch drowns itself in pandemic mismanagement and failures,” said Alsop.
A memorable February 2019 quote of a female Canadian Minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau, may be apropos: “Everyone deserves to live with dignity, feel safe, and have their rights respected regardless of their identity.”
All the while, statistics bear evidence to more than thirty women-led nations outperforming the global male leaders. Male resentment is high against such leaders like Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (New Zealand) and President Tsai Ing-wen (Taiwan) whose countries have sent SARS2 packing.
by Melissa Hemingway and Micheal John
There are two Pandemics: global Misogyny and COVID
“As the number of working women contributing discretionary income to families and society has been marginalized by the current pandemic, violence against women and children now forced to stay at home has substantially increased to a pandemic level also, and Canada is no exception,” say the RINJ Women via spokesperson Geraldine Frisque.
“Being one of the most misogynistic patriarchal nations on the planet, Canada pretends to be something else. Ten thousand missing or murdered indigenous Canadians should have a louder voice,” she exclaimed.
On a roll, she continued.
Top women officers quit Canadian Armed Forces over decades of systemic exploitation of females.
Said a Colonel, “I am sickened by ongoing investigations of sexual misconduct among our key leaders,” wrote Lt. Col. Eleanor Taylor. “Unfortunately, I am not surprised. I am also certain that the scope of the problem has yet to be exposed. Throughout my career, I have observed insidious and inappropriate use of power for sexual exploitation.” 2012 File Photo by Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press
Apparently Canada does not get high global marks for gender equality although its government is bent on making changes favouring a sea change of gender parity, but that appears to be against the grain.
One quarter of the women in the Canadian military claim they have been sexually assaulted, says a Statistics Canada report.
“The February revelations by the brave Major Kellie Brennan, about top military brass fathering children among exploited female underling officers and enlisted staff—children the men apparently refuse to support—makes my blood boil,” says Geraldine Frisque.
“There are other cases the media have not reported because the women want to keep their careers, but have asked organizations to help with their children.”
“This is the kind of thing my colleagues recently provided to women-in-distress; both escape and protection from Myanmar’s military junta; but this conduct lurks hidden in the shadows of Canada’s white-washed patriarchal institutions also,” she said.
“What is worse,” she added, “is that these crimes of exploitation of women in Canada’s military are being investigated by the Canadian military’s provost corps which is more misogynistic than the upper brass having a mindset that is based on operational playbooks written in the the 1940s and the 1950s when women had no status in Canada. The Canadian military will lie like rugs, as it has done about other controversies we know about, to cover up its epidemic of sexual misconduct. But ask women in the military, like say at Pembroke, how many times they were raped or how many times they were exploited or overlooked in deserved promotions or better taskings…”
“While problems of sexual harassment and sexual assault are not unique to the CAF— numerous organizations are struggling to address the prevalence of inappropriate sexual conduct,—the time is right for the leadership of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to tackle the issue. Sexual harassment and sexual assault not only harm the victims, but also the integrity, professionalism and efficiency of the CAF as a whole.”
“One of the key findings of the External Review Authority (the ERA) is that there is an underlying sexualized culture in the CAF that is hostile to women and LGTBQ members, and conducive to more serious incidents of sexual harassment and assault. Cultural change is therefore key. It is not enough to simply revise policies or to repeat the mantra of “zero tolerance”. Leaders must acknowledge that sexual misconduct is a real and serious problem for the organization, one that requires their own direct and sustained attention.”—(Citing “External Review into Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment in the Canadian Armed Forces“
“Women sexually exploited by the Canadian military; women exploited by the misogynistic, antiquated Royal Canadian Mounted Police as well as the Sûreté du Québec and the Ontario Provincial Police forces; plus women exploited in city police forces like Toronto, Calgary, and Edmonton to name just a few recently in the news, or coming across my desk, speaks to a serious systemic problem in Canada,” she added.
Speaking on a distasteful political topic of the misogynistic Conservative Party of Canada, which when last governed spent too many days embroiled in controversy over its members telling rape jokes, she added, “It’s no wonder PM Justin Trudeau presented in his first election, in 2015, as a feminist. Like a thirsty tourist in the Sahara desert needs water, and a newborn baby needs air, Canada needs a truly feminist Prime Minister. What is such a feminist? A person who acknowledges gender equality. Period,” said Geraldine in a recorded Zoom interview.
Global Women’s Group says Trudeau Government in Canada continues to promote gender equality but it is an uphill battle against national resistance to sea change.
“Ministers like Marie-Claude Bibeau are fighting a bizarre gender-equality battle that makes me think of the patriarch’s anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers,” said RINJ’s Geraldine Frisque when asked for comment.
Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau – Photo Credit: Government of Canada
“This week we welcomed the undaunted Minister of Agriculture, Marie-Claude Bibeau, and others like the federal MP for Sherbrooke Élisabeth Brière, and also Member of Parliament for Brome—Missisquoi, Lyne Bessette, meeting with regional organizations providing services and support to survivors of gender-based violence to discuss the federal government’s investments within the 2021 budget,” said Ms. Frisque.
The minister has announced in a statement and in talks to women’s groups a proposed investment of $601.3 million ($cdn) over five years, starting in 2021-22, that will:
- Establish a dedicated secretariat for Canada to coordinate the ongoing work towards the development and implementation of the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence;
- Support Canadian crisis hotlines that are experiencing a rise in call volumes during the pandemic; and
- Bolster the capacity of Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ organizations to provide gender-based violence prevention programming aimed at addressing the root causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
“During the current pandemic, women and girls are suffering immensely behind locked doors,” says global women’s rights group and a Canadian Female Cabinet Minister.
According to a Canadian federal government statement issued Tuesday, “every 2.5 days a woman or girl is killed in Canada. In the last year alone there were over 160 women violently killed. Sadly, the rate of sexual assault is not declining, according to Statistics Canada, with police-reported sexual assaults increasing every year from 2015 to 2019.”
“For violence against women to end, everybody must open their eyes, ears and mouths. We have to talk about it, help each other and that’s why it was important for me to have this discussion with these incredible women who work every day with victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence. I want federal funds to be directed where they will have the most positive and lasting impact said cabinet minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.
Meanwhile, there is another glimmer of hope as Canadian leaders strive to get a third wave of SARS-CoV-2 under control. Active cases rise has stopped and now trends downward as Rt drops below one.
Canada’s RT drops to under 1 as Active cases rise stops and reverses. Masking, stay-at-home-orders and vaccinations work. More is needed of all three say experts. Source: Civil Society Partners in Solidarity Against COVID-19
Canada’s cumulative cases climb over 1.2 million as active cases stop climbing Source: Civil Society Partners in Solidarity Against COVID-19
Comparing Canada to the rest of the world
Active Cases, highest 25 nations. Source: Civil Society Partners in Solidarity Against COVID-19
Additional reading on what’s been happening in Canada from a Feminine-Perspective.