‘I am here to make a lot of noise’: Sharing stories to end femicide
A podcast, produced in the Region of Waterloo, is shedding light on the topic of femicide.
The term refers to homicides targeting women and girls simply becauseof their gender.
The ‘She is Your Neighbour’ podcast, hosted by Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region, discusses the warning signs so that hopefully women will feel empowered to leave a dangerous situation.
They recently spoke to St. Catharines resident Fallon Farinacci about her painful past in Manitoba.
“In 1992, a family friend, a community member and someone my father had grown up with started to grow increasingly obsessed with my mother,” she shared with CTV News. “He started to stalk her and at one point he threatened her life and his own as well.”
Farinacci said her mother tried to protect herself but felt the justice system failed her.
“He had the .22 caliber rifle that my mother told the RCMP about not once, but twice.”
Farinacci was eight-years-old at the time and was unaware of the danger her family was in until the night before her mother was set to appear in court.
“My mother’s stalker entered our home just after midnight, and it was then about 2:30 in the morning that I woke up to him being in our house and holding my mother, myself and my younger siblings hostage.”
Farinacci said the man killed her father first.
Her older brother managed to escape and called 911 from a neighbour’s house at 2:30 a.m.
Four hours later, the stalker killed her mother and then himself.
Farinacci said the police still hadn’t arrived on scene at that time.
“Unfortunately, we still had to wait in the home until after 8 a.m. for the RCMP to show up.”
SPEAKING UP FOR CHANGE
Jenna Mayne works at Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region and hosts the ‘She is Your Neighbour’ podcast.
“Last year there were 52 women killed in 52 weeks in Ontario alone and I think that number is really shocking, but surprisingly, I feel like a lot of people aren’t talking about it,” said Mayne.
In Waterloo region, four of the six homicides in 2022 involved female victims. Male suspects were charged in all four cases.
“Unless we understand this a little bit better and start talking about some of the red flags and warning signs we’re not going to be able to make any changes,” added Mayne.
Farinacciwas also a speaker Wednesday at an International Women’s Day event at Conestoga College where she talked about the importance of sharing her story.
“They could very well be in a situation and unaware they're in a dangerous situation,” Farinacci told CTV News. “So by hearing others’voices and stories, maybe they will leave or they can create change themselves and really start to make that shift for themselves.”
Farinacci, who is also an advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMWIG), hopes her experience helps other women like her mom.
“I was given the spirit name ‘White Thunder Woman’ and the elder who gifted me that name said that I am here to make a lot of noise,” she explained. “And that is what I am going to do.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.