Purple fills London, Ont. as 13th annual Shine the Light on Woman Abuse campaign begins
Global News
The crowd included local politicians like mayor-elect Josh Morgan, various city councillors, as well as survivors and LAWC team members.
A sea of purple flooded to Victoria Park in London, Ont. on Tuesday as the London Abused Women’s Centre (LAWC) kicked off the 13th annual Shine the Light on Woman Abuse campaign.
The crowd included local politicians like mayor-elect Josh Morgan, various city councillors, as well as survivors and LAWC team members. Due to unforeseen circumstances, this year’s honouree, Jennifer Kagan-Viater, was unable to attend.
Kagan-Viater is an honouree as well as her daughter, Keira, who was killed by her biological father.
“Keira was a beautiful and bright-eyed baby,” said Kagan-Viater in her prepared speech for the event. “While I was able to safely leave the relationship and fortunately had the resources to do so, I then sought protection for Keira via the family court system.
“I begged and pleaded with the judges and child protection workers to help Keira. She was completely failed by the family court and Jewish Family and Child Services.”
A big focus in this year’s campaign is coercive control. This is something Marsha Ackland-Parker, another abuse victim who was present in the crowd, is grateful to see highlighted.
“The vast majority of the abuse that I experienced was between sexual and coercive control,” said Ackland-Parker.