Deaths of Winnipeg women outrages anti-violence group

The organizer of the Annual Take Back The Night March is outraged two young women were killed over the weekend in Winnipeg and their boyfriends arrested in connection with the crimes.

Jenna Marsden died Tuesday after being assaulted Sunday in a home on Burnell Street.

Janelle Jirasek was stabbed to death on Saturday in St. Boniface.

• Winnipeg woman killed, common-law husband charged
• Janelle Jirasek's aunt numb over stabbing death in St. Boniface

The incidents happened just days after hundreds of people marched through Winnipeg streets calling for an end to violence against women.

• Winnipeggers hit the streets in Take Back the Night march

Mandy Fraser, a co-organizer of the march, said violence against women is a sad reality in Winnipeg.

"I really think that men in leadership roles have a lot of work to do in this city, working with other men, helping them learn anger management and non-violent conflict resolution," she said.

Another Winnipeg woman,Jennie Graves, died at the end of August after being pushed from a moving vehicle.In that case, as in the other two, the man arrested was her common-law partner.

• Man allegedly pushed partner from moving truck, police say

Statement by Mandy Fraser

We are horrified to learn that 2 young men murdered their partners in the week following Take Back the Night.We challenge the media and police to start changing the way they report violence against women. Using language like she was fatally stabbed minimizes the fact that men use excessive violence and brutally murder their partners. We need to stop speaking as though women passively get raped and murdered: Men rape women. Men kill women.

Men in leadership roles have a lot of work to do in this city working with other men, helping them learn anger management and non-violent conflict resolution. We as a society have a long way to go to make it possible for men to unlearn sexism and misogyny. We need to teach our little boys that its OK to cry, that its OK to ask for help, and that girls and women are human beings.

We send our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones ofJenna MarsdenandJanelle Jirasek.