Local groups will honour this year鈥檚 National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women with a Dec. 2 film screening and a Dec. 6 vigil.

Three local groups are co-presenting the documentary Marker of Change: The Story of the Women鈥檚 Monument on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2:30 p.m., at the Stan Hagen Theatre of North Island College.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with director Moira Simpson, the film鈥檚 producers, and members of the Women鈥檚 Monument Committee.

Everyone is welcome and admission is free, with donations to the Comox Valley Transition Society gratefully accepted.

The film tells the story of the seven-year struggle to create 鈥渟omething loving, something permanent鈥� to honour the 14 young women at Montre虂al鈥檚 E虂cole Polytechnique who were systematically murdered on Dec. 6, 1989, in what became known as the Montre虂al Massacre.

The Women鈥檚 Monument is a circle of 14 Laurentian pink granite benches. It was unveiled in downtown Vancouver eight years after the massacre.

The film is presented by the World Community Film Festival, the Comox Valley Transition Society, the Comox Valley Art Gallery, and the Women鈥檚 Monument Committee.

On Dec. 6, the Transition Society will host a vigil on the plaza of the Comox Valley Art Gallery from noon to 1 p.m. to mark the anniversary of the Montre虂al massacre and remember all women who have been killed by male violence.

Since the murders in 1989, male violence in Canada and around the world has increased. This violence is so widespread that all women and girls in Canada are affected, and Indigenous women and women with disabilities are disproportionately targeted.

鈥淧lease join us at the film and vigil to remember the women and children we have lost, to support those at risk now, and to press for action to ensure a safer world for future generations,鈥� said Heather Ney, executive director of Comox Valley Transition Society.