Survival, Strength, Sisterhood: Power of Women in the Downtown Eastside

[hulkface121]

"femicide" really? bolloks i say!

[SuperStrik9]

This is a very heartbreaking story. I DESPISE how aboriginal people have been treated over the years and still get treated. My last two girlfriends were Iroquois and Cherokee respectively and they filled me in on the horrors of life on reserves and the challenges of getting out. Also the most attractive thing about a women to me is her mind and her sensitivity. Believe it or not but I'm a straight male and I'm not just saying this to appeal to feminists lol. We men all aren't pigs lol.

[laruefichtner]

I am a film student living on the edge of downtown eastside right now. It has been gentrified over the years and I live quite close to Gastown. I haven't been living here too long but I see homeless people on skidrow everyday(who throws sexist slurs at me every chance they can get btw). I've been quite curious about women who live here(I also happen to live right across the women's centre. Thank you for this.

[stephenpaultaylor]

You're in vancouver? I had no idea

[iremythpurr]

@stephenpaultaylor

stephen, you have me blocked why are you commenting on my videos? doesn't that seem weird to you? i don't understand why i'm blocked, i've never dumped any rude comments on your videos. thats weird to me.

no, i don't live in vancouver. i live in the PNW but a bit further south. it was a good video so i thought i'd upload it so that it would get more views.

[stephenpaultaylor]

@iremythpurr no you haven't, but you and i had that wee battle under the aileen wuornos video (i know, i spelt her name wrong). i blocked you at the time. i'll unblock you. i have nothing against you... btw, shEvoDEevolution is claiming i left "hateful comments" towards you under your video... i found that odd. i lived in van and i've seen a lot of very disturbing shit btw

[stephenpaultaylor]

@iremythpurr .. oh and i know some artists who have done some very powerful work with the women of the downtown eastside: a photographer as well as a filmmaker. Really great, powerful, poignant work that really puts a face to what's going on. I lived in Vancouver for ten years. It's heartbreaking.

[HappyHooker83]

@iremythpurr I heard it was the cops who did this, murdered these ladies AND girls. Thank you for posting this.

[iremythpurr]

@HappyHooker83

I believe that. I think the cops are behind the femicide in Juarez as well. 

[JonPaulPrime]

I had no idea of this. Thanks for posting. Horrific.

[SaelPalani]

Terri,

Thank you so much for this. Women here are strong as fuck and I'm living testament of that. Our hearts are huge and we are more connected here than I think in other places because we MUST be connected to survive.

'Proud to live in the hood. Peace out!!'

~D

[SaelPalani]

I play that piano sometimes. I know almost ALL of those women. The march was a few days ago. And that grave at 5:12 is the one I want the WHORES on YouTube to go up to and tell how prostitution is so great. I spit on all the WHORES of YouTube. They are dishonest and if you heard this: people here are HONEST.

[HappyHooker83]

@SaelPalani First off, the fight for womyn's rights lies in not letting the patriarchy hold us to the whore virgin complex. When you slut shame womyn AND girls, you buy into that. Think about it and how your words affect all womyn as a whole. After all, the whole condemnation of whores can easily turn into, "She wore a short miniskirt at night, so thus she is a WHORE who was asking for it," as is the case in so called white, developed countries or in islamic countries. Are you an agent and do

[HappyHooker83]

@SaelPalani morally and force us to conform to the male chauvinist whore virgin complex that basically states that if we are not pure and respectable than as punishment we deserve to be raped and murdered and tortured by putting us into the dual role of victim (victim of what exactly?) and criminal (a crime for using our sexuality in a context most men do not condone or approve of). Think about it. In the US Military, viagra is freely dispensed, but abortion is not, not even morning after pills

[HappyHooker83]

@SaelPalani in an environment where 1 out of 3 womyn working and serving in the military will be raped. Think about it. Why that is? To control our sexuality. That is why! As for these womyn being "forced" into it, prostitution is not a person that can force you to do anything. We all work jobs we may not want to do or dreamed of doing as little kids just to survive and make a living, That is just how our world and system is set up. Most of these womyn were not forced! Unless someone puts

[HappyHooker83]

@SaelPalani a gun to your head and physically force you, no one can take your muscles against your will and force you to do anything like this but you! You should take personal responsibility just as rapists/ men should take personal responsibility. Yeah, they do it out of drug addictions, etc. THE ONES ON THE STREETS MOSTLY or cause they have pimps (which, if they were kidnapped, than THAT is by force and even then it is a matter of slavery, NOT prostitution because prostitution is the

[HappyHooker83]

@SaelPalani Fact is, you can't keep projecting this paternalizing attitude that these womyn are babies who can not control themselves or think for themselves because that way you are continuing this paternalizing attitude that womyn can not and are not capable of thinking or fending for ourselves which is what the original womyn's rights movement was against! That is what causes us sex workers to be abused by basically stigmatizing our bodies with this whole thought and notion

[HappyHooker83]

@SaelPalani that we are adolescents who can't think for ourselves, thus we need laws to tell us what to think and what to do with our bodies, thus opening us up ripe for abuse and rape by cops who happen to commit more sexual based crimes than the average population (look up the stats) and who also notoriously are wickedly known for being infamous wife beaters or any other occupation out there. Please open yourself up to common sense, You can't expect to be babied AND want liberation, too,

[HappyHooker83]

@SaelPalani while using a constant state of victimization to justify being infantilized as you do with womyn's sexuality. Just take my thoughts into context, will you? Thank you.

[ninjascroll6789]

@HappyHooker83 why do you say womyn instead or women?

[prettyriot]

This is heartbreaking. Are there any theories as to what has happened to all those women?

[iremythpurr]

@prettyriot

Well they were able to confirm that Robert Pickton was responsible for killing 20 of the women but the number is so astronomical that its basically assumed that these are just women that are targeted by serial killers because of their low status.

[MensRifleAssociation]

sweet