www.insidehalton.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, November 16, 2017 | 22 Labour council hands out annual activists awards by Nathan Howes Special to the Beaver Workers Health & Safety Centre While progress has been made in efforts to end violence against women, there is still much more to do. That' s according to Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff, who made the statement as part of her address Thursday, Nov. 9 at the Oakville and District Labour Council' s (ODLC) 17th annual Activists Awards Dinner. Held at the Unifor Local 707 building, the event included six awards given to activists who have made outstanding contributions to their community and unions. Four scholarships were also distributed to various union chapters. The crowd heard remarks from Unifor Presi dent Jerry Dias and Kevin Flynn, Oakville MPP and Ontario Labour Minister, as well. Proceeds from the dinner, which totalled $10,000 from the ODLC and Dias, were given to Halton Women' s Place. "Are attitudes changing? I think, in some small ways, maybe they are," said Damoff, vice chair of the House of Commons Standing Com mittee on the Status of Women. "Even in the last year, w e' v e seen people stand ing up. They're speaking out and they' re saying, ` It' s happened to me, too.' They' re not as afraid to come forward." The former Oakville councillor mentioned The Oakville & District Labour Council (ODLC) honoured several local activists who have made contributions to their community and their unions. Maureen Weinberger ( ETFO) received the Political Activist Award and Dave Tremblay (Unifor Local 707) received the ODLC George Hicks Lifetime Achievement Award. | Graham Paine/Metroland November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month and shared numerous statistics on the issue. She noted one in four women will experience some form of sexual violence in her lifetime and that 88 per cent of Canadian women have reported sexual harassment in public before the age of 18. Also, in the past year, 50 per cent of Canadian women have self-reported being groped or fon dled by a stranger in public at least once. The annual economic costs of intimatepartner violence against women are also high, Damoff said, valued at $4.8 billion, while the yearly price tag of sexual assault and other simi lar offences against women are estimated to be $3.6 billion. In March, 2017, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women tabled a report, Taking Ac tion to End Violence against Young Women and Girls in Canada, which focused on three types of violence that have a significant impact on young women and girls -- harassment in public spac es, sexual violence on post-secondary campuses and cyber-violence. Its 45 recommendations to the federal govern ment aims to prevent, respond to and eliminate acts of violence against women and girls. Damoff urged people to keep pressure on poli ticians to ensure the "right legislation" is in place and to sustain pressure on businesses to prevent harassment and violence in the workplace. see `When on p.23 5 REASONS TO VISIT THE OAKVILLE HEARING CENTRE You notice people are m um bling Listening with background noise is challenging You often ask people to repeat them selves V O TED BEST Hearing Centre in Oakville Your loved ones seem to get frustrated by your inability to hear them 7/ 10 Y E A R S in a row! You are over 60 years of age - it's time to get a baseline for your hearing levels Call the Oakville Hearing Centre at 905-849-5894 to book an appointment today! N ico le C la rk Audiologist 1235 Trafalgar Rd. Suite 207 www.oakvillehearing.com 905.849.5894 T h e O a k v ille H e a rin g C e n tre When you want a professional im