Moose Hide Campaign Day takes a stand against violence toward women and children
This year’s campaign will hold an in-person walk against violence
The Moose Hide Campaign will take place on May 12 this year. (Submitted)
Moose Hide Campaign Day began 11 years ago, and this year, it will be held on May 12. The purpose of the campaign is to fight against violence against women and children.
In 2011, while on a moose hunt along the highway of tears, Paul Lacerte and his daughter Raven Lacerte created the Moose Hide Campaign. The highway of tears is a highway in British Columbia that is significant due to the fact it is where many women have gone missing or have been murdered, especially Indigenous women.
Paul and Raven wanted to find a way to use the moose hide for an important cause, and this led them to create pins that would signify the fight against violence against women and children.
For the campaign, men and boys are asked to fast from sunrise to sunset. Omar Karim, national director, post-secondary engagement and initiatives, says it’s one of the ways the organization encourages men to stand up against gender-based violence.
Karim says one of the goals is to “have one million Canadians fasting together in solidarity in ending violence.”
The campaign works to educate men and boys on the role they can play in ending violence against women and children. Some of the goals they’ve set for men and boys are to “stand up with women and children and speak out against violence towards them, support each other as men and hold each other accountable, [and] teach boys the true meaning of love and respect and be healthy role models for them.”
According to Statistics Canada, “44 per cent of women reported experiencing some form of IPV (intimate partner violence) in their lifetime.” The Canadian Women’s Foundation also reports that “approximately every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner.”
“Part of our goal with the Moose Hide Campaign is we’re working to build a safer society for all by … addressing the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women and girls, speaking out about domestic violence and then building healthier masculinities,” Karim says.
The organization works with students from Kindergarten to grade 12 to help them engage in the campaigns. They also help create lesson plans for teachers.
With post-secondary students, the organization works towards ensuring safety on campus as well as removing gender-based violence that can be experienced on campus.
“What we hope that people take away from this is to become activators in their community. To gather up and to stand up against violence in their community, and to continue to spread the awareness of the campaign,” Karim says.
He wants people to be able to understand what it means to create meaningful relationships and says he wants the younger generations to also learn about working in solidarity in ending the violence against women and children.
On May 12, the campaign will feature a list of events from keynote speeches, virtual workshops, and a walk-in in Victoria to end violence. This is the first time an in-person walk will be done since the COVID-19 pandemic began and there will be a livestream of the walk for people who cannot make it in person.
The event will end with a ceremony to break the fast.
“I’d encourage people to learn more about the significance of the Moose Hide Campaign pin. From my personal perspective, … it’s an act of reconciliation. Wearing a moose hide pin helps us to also promote the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action, the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women and girls inquiry calls for justice,” Karim says.
