B.C. men fasting for a good cause

The B.C. government is showing their support for women’s safety by encouraging men in the public service and Legislative Assembly to fast.

The Province is counting down to Moose Hide Campaign Day on February 16, 2017 by to participate in the B.C.-born campaign to stop violence against women and girls.

The Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation and the Provincial Office of Domestic Violence are working with campaign founder Paul Lacerte to encourage participation in a sunrise to sundown fast. Men can commit to end violence through a full food and water fast, or a partial fast depending on their health needs.

"The burden of advocacy to end gender-based violence has been carried by women for far too long but there is so much that men can to do share that burden,” said Lacerte. “Fasting demonstrates that individual men can stand up and offer a sacrifice to the women in their lives and their communities.”

John Rustad, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation is encouraging male members of the B.C. Legislature to wear Moose Hide pins on Moose Hide Campaign Day.

"Creating a safer world for women and girls is a shared responsibility, involving government, First Nations leaders and communities,” said Rustad. “That's why I'm calling on all my colleagues in the Legislature to participate in Moose Hide Day in any way they can to demonstrate that every individual act can make a difference."

Since it started in 2011, the Moose Hide Campaign has distributed over 500,000 Moose Hide Campaign pins, and secured support and participation from the Assembly of First Nations, the B.C. Legislature, the First Nations Health Society, the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, the RCMP B.C. Region and a host of First Nations communities throughout B.C.

The Moose Hide Campaign is a grassroots movement that continues to draw support in the stand against violence towards women and girls. Feb. 16, 2017 will be the sixth year the campaign has held a day of workshops, healing ceremonies, talking circles and fasting to encourage men to be accountable and be part of the solution.

In 2016, the B.C. government provided $250,000 to support campaign expansion. The campaign aims to increase its outreach throughout British Columbia and Canada and has a vision of one million men fasting on Moose Hide Campaign Day in 2020.

The inspiration for the Moose Hide Campaign came from a hunting trip in 2011 near Highway 16 when Lacerte's daughter, Raven, skinned a moose to feed the family over winter. Because they were so close to Highway 16, they got the idea that moose hide could be used as a symbol to stop violence.

According to Statistics Canada, on average, a woman in Canada is killed in a domestic homicide every five days, and on any given day, over 6,000 women and children are living in emergency shelters to escape abuse.

Aboriginal women are three times more likely to experience violence and be assaulted by their partner than non-Aboriginal Women.