Victims of Violence Remembered

About forty people gathered at Knox United Church yesterday to mark the twentieth anniversary of the murderous rampage at a Montreal university.

Fourteen women were killed and 13 others wounded during a shooting rampage by Marc Lepine.

Peggy Loyie of Rainy River District Victim Services said it was also a day to remember the countless others of women who have become victims of violence.

"This is a day for all of us to reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society," said Loyie. "It also an opportunity to consider the women and girls for whom violence is a daily reality and to remember those who have died as a result of gender-based violence."

The names and photos of 16 women from the Rainy River district murdered over the past twenty years were also shown to those attending who lit candles in remembrances.

Raquel Desrosiers , who's mother Karla was killed two years ago, was among those on hand.

"It's really sad we have to lose women like this," says Desrosiers. "They have the numbers of all these women who are missing and murdered, but the numbers are actually a lot higher than that. It's scary. It's up to us to speak for the women who don't have voices anymore."