It was 18 years ago next Tuesday, December 6, that 14 young women engineering students were murdered at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal by a man who singled out women students to kill, ordering the men present to leave and screaming that he hated feminists for ruining his life and blocking his entry into engineering school.

On Tuesday, the public is invited to join a special gathering at 6:30 p.m. at the Orangeville town hall atrium to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, a commemorative date proclaimed by the government to mourn these women and rally society to take action to end gender-based violence.

December 6th also gives our community an opportunity to reflect on the continuing violence against women in our society.

There are women and girls who live daily with the threat of violence or the traumatic reminders of being abused.

Violence against women is a persistent and ongoing problem in Canada and around the world. It affects women s social and economic equality, physical and mental health, well-being and economic security.

"We can't say, 'it's none of my business,' when we know someone is being treated with disrespect, abuse or violence. We need to speak out for individuals and work together as a community to challenge the attitudes that allow violence against women to be tolerated," said Noella English, president of the Orangeville District Labour Council which is organizing the event in support for Family Transition Place.

Statistics Canada reports that on average there were 182 females killed every year in Canada between 1994 and 2003.

Those numbers included Dufferin and Caledon's Shirley Snow, Helen Kuric and her four children, Jennifer Zumach and Maria Klymchuk.

Last year alone, close to 1,000 abused women and their children found shelter, housing, counselling or support at Family Transition Place.

An hour of music, poems and reflection is planned for the town hall event and will involve area youth, men and women.