Enclave: The Ottawa Women's Monument

Enclave in 2014

Enclave: The Ottawa Women's Monument is a public monument that honours the lives of local women and girls murdered by men between 1990 and 2000. It is located in Minto Park, off of Elgin Street, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was built in 1992 by the Women's Urgent Action Committee in reaction to the Montreal Massacre of December 6, 1989, and a patriarchal climate of violence against women.^[1]

History[]

Upon the brutal murder of Pamella Behrendt by her husband, the Women's Urgent Action Committee was created. They decided to use Minto Park as a spot for her vigil in summer 1990.^[1] Unveiled December 6, 1992, on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, Enclave was created by artist C. J. Fleury and landscape architect Mary Leigh Faught, led by the Committee.^[2] The group continues to hold vigils for Ottawa women at the memorial, and there are annual gatherings on December 6, the anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre. The Committee also planted trees in memorial of murdered and abused women and girls.^[3]

The last engraving was made in 2000, when the name of Sandra Campbell was replaced with "Jane Doe" due to legal issues, causing controversy and contributing to the dissolution of the committee.^[4] Since then, no official changes have been made to the monument though many people wish to have more names added.^{[citation needed]}

Description[]

The central piece of the monument is a 2-metre-long (6.6 ft) uncut upright granite stone. On its rough surface is a smooth indented double-pointed oval, or yoni, containing engravings. The main engraving consists of the same text in English and French. In English it reads:

To honour and to grieve
all women
abused and murdered by men
envision a world without violence
where women are
respected
&
free.^[1]

Illustrations of a three-swirl symbol (or triskele), the phases of the moon, waves, and female figures also appear on the stone's face. Surrounding this central stone are 37 smaller stones, placed in an open spiral, each engraved with the name of a woman killed by an act of violence perpetrated by a man.^[5] The Ottawa Women's Monument is located in the middle of Minto Park, in line with the bust of Argentinian general José de San Martín, which is situated on the Elgin Street side of the park.^{[citation needed]}

Symbolism[]

Enclave: The Ottawa Women's Monument is an instalment that incorporates feminine symbolic imagery. The boulder was chosen to call to mind the visual of hips without having to cut or modify in stone to make it look a particular way. This was important in its design so as to be easily identifiable as naturally female and not sculpted to fit certain ideas of femininity.^[3] The triskele spiral engraved at the top is a neolithic symbol that signifies continuity and references ancient divine femininity. The round arrangement of the stones is meant to evoke a sense of cyclical life, death and rebirth, openness, and to encourage people to enter the walls of the enclave and engage with the memories of the women mourned there.^[1] The shape of the boulder and the polished pointed oval also reflects yonic imagery. Additionally, the memorial's geographical location between Ottawa's courthouse and the police station can act to remind visitors of the systemic issues at play in violence against women and the lack of attention given to addressing them.^[1]

Women honoured[]

The women and girls memorialized are:^[3][5]

Controversy[]

In 2000, legal issues surrounding the accusation of one of the women's alleged murderers took place. This resulted in the Committee being required to remove the name of Sandra Campbell because her husband's murder charges were stayed.^[7] Instead of removing the stone, they replaced her name with "Jane Doe" to reflect the countless women who have disappeared, and the people responsible who have not been brought to justice by the legal system.^[4][8]

Another controversy surrounding the monument is the claim that it is sexist in its targeting of men as perpetrators. Some feminists and members of the Committee were also concerned with its specifying men as agents of violence against women because they thought it could direct attention away from the victims.^[1]

The essentialized female imagery is also a subject of debate as it is seen by some as exclusionary in its portrayal of a particular kind of womanhood and its erasure of the specific struggles with gendered violence faced by indigenous women and girls.^[1]

References[]