Violence against women and children in Canada has not ended in the 13 years since the 1989 massacre at l'École Polytechnique in Montréal and now there are even fewer resources to help prevent it and deal with it, said the director of the Violence Intervention Program in Weyburn and Estevan.

The murder of 14 engineering students, shot to death because they were women, raised public awareness but not enough, said Patt Lenover-Adams. "Dec. 6 is an awareness day but it's only one day of the year."

A Walk to Remember, commemorating the anniversary of the tragic event, was held on Monday night, sponsored by VIP and the Weyburn and District Labour Council.

"I think (the shootings) challenged all our belief systems and did promote some understanding. But people still tend to think it doesn't exist in our community, or it's an isolated incident," said Lenover-Adams.

Or they stereotype the people involved, she said.

Unfortunately, the issue is no longer the priority it was for governments for a few years after the shooting, she said.

Governments did a lot in the late 1980s and early 1990s to fund shelters and transition houses for women escaping violence, but so many agencies have experienced cuts in funding they can no longer provide the same level of service, she said, adding that it's a big concern for all agencies working with people.

Most shelters for women and children operate on a year-by-year basis for funding but there must be a long-term program, she said.

"What we also need is a long-term national media campaign to help the public understand what it takes for women and their children to rebuild their lives, as well as why violence occurs in the first place," said Lenover-Adams. There is always reporting on the highlights, like the 25 per cent increase in spousal homicides reported by the Justice department recently, but not enough on the background, on why it came to that point and what happened before the tragic events occurred, she said.

It starts with bullying in the younger grades, then harassment of younger girls and then assault, she said.

Individuals can begin to help by becoming informed, asking questions and participating in events like the Walk to Remember.

"We need to challenge our attitudes and the conditions that perpetuate violence," she said. "Then we need to start donating our time and money to support the organizations that address violence so they can build their capacity."

Lenover-Adams said stable statistics on violence are hard to get because so many people don't report incidents, but agencies continue to attempt it.

A website for the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, for instance, reports statistics from 94 police departments, which represents 56 per cent of the national volume of crime in 2002.

Those figures show that 27 per cent of all victims of violent crimes were victims of family violence. Among all family violence victims, 62 per cent were victims of violence at the hands of their spouse.

· In 2002, females accounted for 85 per cent of all victims of spousal violence reported to the subset of police departments. Young females aged 25-to-34 experienced the highest rates of spousal violence.

· Females were most likely to be criminally harassed by a partner, while males were more likely to be harassed by an acquaintance.