Kitchener South-Hespeler MPP Jess Dixon held the event Lights on the Water: Hope in Hespeler on Friday evening
Article written by Matt Betts and originally posted on CambridgeToday: Community gathers in Hespeler to unite against gender-based violence – CambridgeToday.ca
It’s been 36 years since an armed man killed 14 women and injured 13 others at the École Polytechnique in Montreal on Dec. 6, 1989.
On the eve of the anniversary Friday evening and in the middle of the 16 Days of Activism Against Intimated Partner Violence and Gender-Based Violence, the Cambridge community gathered at Jacob’s Landing in Hespeler to stand together in unity.
Led by Kitchener South-Hespeler MPP Jess Dixon, speakers discussed the issues before the Hespeler Falls were lit purple.
As Dixon addressed the crowd, she spoke of a 900-page report she helped create on gender-based violence that will be tabled at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.
As part of the work, Dixon organized and led a committee over the past 18 months that featured just under 100 expert witnesses and 60 survivors.
So far, approximately 3,000 hours have been put into the project.
“It was never about if gender-based violence was serious, it was about how do we respond to this,” Dixon said.
“I knew the survivors had the answers. It covers everything from early stage prevention through to intervention, legal and justice reform, and men’s programming.”
The statistics are staggering.
Jennifer Hutton, the chief executive officer of Women’s Crisis Services Waterloo Region, shared there were 187 femicides nationwide, 42 in Ontario, between Nov. 2024 and Nov. 2025.
Waterloo regional police has fielded over 6,000 IPV calls for service so far this year, leading to 3,464 criminal charges. Offences range from assault, uttering threats, distributing intimate images, assault cause bodily harm, strangulation and attempted murder.
According to YWCA data, 74 per cent of women accessing its 20-bed, 24/7 shelter inside Grace Bible Church in Galt also experience gender-based violence on a weekly basis.
So, what’s the answer?
Dixon, a former Crown prosecutor, believes it has to start with educating young people and teaching important skills such as impulse control.
“Really emphasizing the prevention piece is key, particularly in our schools,” she said.
“Starting with little kids, to realize because you have the desire to do something or an emotional outburst, doesn’t mean you act on it. If you want to change attitudes, you have to do it early on. This isn’t inevitable, this is preventable.”
