On this day, 22 years ago, a man named Marc Lepine walked into the Universite de Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique with a hunting rifle. He chose one classroom, and told all of the men to to leave the room. He then systematically shot every woman in the room. After he was finished in the classroom, he walked through the school, continuing to shoot women before he put the gun to his own head and killed himself.

In total, Lepine killed 14 women, and injured an additional ten women and four men. In his suicide note, Lepine blamed feminists for ruining his life. He also had a hit list of 19 women other women that he wanted to kill because they were feminists.

We can make this day into more than just a day to remember, we can turn it into a day that sparks real action in the struggle to eliminate violence against women. 

Let us never forget these events, or the struggle that remains.