Gender equality in Canada is a core national value, but achieving it requires more than simply addressing the gaps between men and women. People experience different barriers based on many elements of their identities, including their sexuality, race, gender identity, ability, and age. Therefore, pursuing true equality means recognizing and meeting the diverse needs of all people. The Canadian Women’s Foundation practices an intersectional approach to feminism, aiming to understand the many ways in which different women are affected by barriers and discrimination that go beyond their gender alone.
An intersectional lens reveals that some women are at higher risk of gender-based violence, have fewer economic opportunities, and face a more significant gender wage gap. These inequalities persist not because these women are not “trying hard enough,” but due to systemic discrimination intertwined with their identities, including race, class, and ability.
The term intersectionality was coined in 1989 by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American legal scholar and civil rights activist, to explain how race and gender intersect to produce unique barriers for Black women. Crenshaw used the metaphor of a traffic intersection to illustrate how discrimination can come from multiple directions, making it difficult to identify a single cause. Similarly, Black women face discrimination due to a combination of both racism and sexism.
Crenshaw and other Black women scholars and activists highlighted that mainstream feminism often overlooked the unique challenges faced by Black women. They used the concept of intersectionality to address this oversight, emphasizing the need to consider multiple forms of discrimination in feminist discourse. Over time, intersectionality expanded to encompass the overlapping impacts of discrimination based on factors such as race, physical ability, ethnicity, nationality, and socio-economic status.
Intersectionality is crucial for understanding the diverse challenges that women face, particularly in areas such as gender-based violence and poverty. For example, the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada is a tragic example of how intersecting barriers, such as the legacy of colonization, residential schools, and marginalizing policies, impact women’s safety and well-being. Indigenous women face higher rates of poverty, unstable housing, and gender-based violence, all of which contribute to their vulnerability.
Statistics show that Indigenous women in Canada are six times more likely to be killed than non-Indigenous women. The final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls described this violence as a form of genocide and called for an intersectional approach to address the systemic racism and colonialism that contributed to these tragedies. Other groups of women, such as women with disabilities, young women, and women in low-income situations, also face disproportionately higher risks of gender-based violence.
Similarly, when it comes to women’s earnings and financial stability, certain groups face higher rates of poverty and larger wage gaps. For example, 30% of single mothers and 23% of women with disabilities live on a low income in Canada. Racialized women and Indigenous women working full-time jobs earn significantly less than their non-racialized male counterparts. An intersectional approach is necessary to address these economic inequalities and to develop policies that work for all women.
Advancing gender equality requires robust funding and support for intersectional feminist movements. From 2005 to 2015, Canada’s gender equality movement stalled due to a lack of government funding, with more than 30 women’s organizations losing 100% of their funding. However, since 2015, there have been renewed efforts to address gender inequality through initiatives like the Gender Equality Policy, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and movements led by diverse women, such as Idle No More and Black Lives Matter.
Despite these advancements, some gender equality movements have faced criticism for failing to fully embrace intersectionality. For example, the #MeToo movement was critiqued for focusing on high-profile cases of sexual assault while neglecting the experiences of marginalized women with fewer resources. Similarly, some women’s marches have been critiqued for a lack of inclusivity and representation of diverse voices.
Intersectionality is essential for legal systems and governments to fulfill their responsibilities to the public. Data diversity, including race-based data, is a key tool for changing policies and systems to better serve marginalized populations. For example, the Ontario Human Rights Commission has recommended race-based data to measure and reduce racial profiling in police traffic stops. Similarly, Statistics Canada has begun collecting more diverse data through its Gender, Diversity, and Inclusion Department to help policy-makers understand the intersecting barriers that different groups face.
At the provincial level, the Ontario Human Rights Commission applies an intersectional approach to multiple grounds complaints, recognizing that discrimination often occurs at the intersection of race, gender, and other identity factors. The federal government has also committed to incorporating Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) into its policy- and decision-making processes, recognizing the importance of analyzing the impact of policies on different groups of people based on multiple identity factors.
Being an intersectional feminist ally means advocating for inclusion and diversity, as well as supporting women who face barriers and discrimination that you may not encounter yourself. This can involve using inclusive language, analyzing the diversity of representation in your daily life, and listening to the experiences of people with multiple identities. Intersectionality can also be applied to services, programs, and projects by recognizing the intersecting barriers that different communities face and working to reduce those barriers through inclusive policies and practices.
Intersectionality is a powerful framework for understanding the complex and interconnected forms of discrimination that diverse groups of women face. By applying an intersectional lens to gender equality efforts, Canada can work toward more effective and inclusive policies that address the needs of all women, regardless of their race, ability, or socio-economic status. The road to true gender equality requires a collective effort to dismantle systemic barriers and build a more equitable and just society for all.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
