Symbolic funeral procession in Chatham to honour victims of femicide

Chatham-Kent is holding a funeral procession, honouring the femicide victims in Ontario. CTV Windsor’s Chris Campbell reports.

A symbolic funeral procession and memorial will take place in Chatham on May 31 to honour women and children lost to femicide.

The event is being organized by the Chatham-Kent Sexual Assault Crisis Centre (CKSACC) to raise awareness about femicide — the gender-based killing of women, children, transgender women, Two-Spirit and gender non-conforming people, often by men known to them.

CKSACC said these killings are most often committed by intimate partners or family members with a history of violence.

According to CKSACC, 177 femicides have been confirmed in Ontario since November 2021.

“This event is in honour of those we’ve lost — and for those still fighting,” the centre said in a news release.

CKSACC Executive Director Linda Soulliere said the procession will be, “a very dignified and somber event,” led by a hearse followed by vehicles, each displaying the names of women lost to femicide on laminated sheets.

“We’re doing it to bring attention in the community,” Soulliere said. “I don’t think a lot of people are aware of how many women get murdered every year. It’s 62 or 64 a year. Every year it never goes less. And that represents one woman every five days.”

Soulliere added the purpose extends beyond remembrance.

“We’re doing it to bring public awareness and to try and effect some kind of legislative change on how the perpetrators are dealt with,” she said. “We have a long way to go.”

She emphasized the importance of community support, especially from men.

“I think it’s really important that the men in our community support the women in this work. We can’t solve it by ourselves. Men have to police other men, and they have to teach their sons this is not okay,” she said. “We have to continue to have these events to raise awareness, to get people angry, because if you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.”

Dan Houle, owner of Alexander and Houle Funeral Home, is donating a hearse and taking part in the procession.

“We have to shed light on this. This is an issue that nobody knows about,” Houle said. “My role in this is to help bring this to the forefront.”

Houle hopes the event will prompt people to take notice. “We hope it causes people to get off the couch and come and stand on Grand Avenue and watch us go by and appreciate the significance of this,” he said. “It’s an unpleasant circumstance that we have to acknowledge, and I’m not sure that the message is getting out there. I’m not sure that society as a whole understands how big this is.”

The free event begins at 11 a.m. at CK Utilities, located at 325 Grand Ave. E., and ends at the Chatham courthouse at 425 Grand Ave. W.

Drivers taking part are asked to arrive at the starting location by 10 a.m.

For more information, contact CKSACC at 519-354-8908 or email [e-mail].