Photo by Whitehorse Star

Mayor Laura Cabott

Mayor formally proclaims Orange Days

Mayor Laura Cabott has proclaimed the 16 days of Orange Days will run from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10.

By Whitehorse Star on November 23, 2021

Mayor Laura Cabott has proclaimed the 16 days of Orange Days will run from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10.

Cabott said Orange Days is a time to promote action to end the violence against women and girls around the world.

The City of Whitehorse recognizes that no level of violence is acceptable and that the elimination of violence against women and girls must be a priority, she said.

Cabott noted the United Nations has declared 16 days of activism against gender-based violence to raise awareness, using the colour orange as a symbol of hope for a brighter future.

The city will light up city hall for the 16 days to raise awareness and stand in solidarity with the victims of gender-based violence and those who defend women’s human rights, she said.

Cabott went on to officially proclaim Nov. 25 to Dec. 10 as Orange Days to promote awareness of the United Nations campaign of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

Comments (33)

Up 0 Down 0

Juniper Jackson on Nov 29, 2021 at 6:15 pm

The topic is not about what color to use for a ribbon, it's not about fighting with each other, it's about your son, your daughter, your wife. It's about anger, beating someone to death, or a child disappearing into the black hole of slavery and prostitution. There are places in the world that believe a 6 year old girl, virgin, will protect them from AIDS, other STDs, and those places pay huge dollars for that little girl. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25871812/ Say, one of these places orders up a blue eyed blond, and you have one in kindergarten. You think you are safe? This s*** is moving to our block, to your neighborhood. The world today, for some reason, seems to protect pedophiles, male violence, or even female violence is treated as a matter for some classes and workshops on anger.
It's just not enough. To keep it from my back yard, I have to protect your back yard, to keep it out of Canada, I have to do something about it in Nigeria. At my age, I'm only good for letters and a $15 donation. Children are snatched out of their yards every day, women and boys, men, addicted to drugs and prostituted every day. They don't care what color that ribbon is. It's all linked..trafficking, drugs, sex crimes, robbery. OMG

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North_of_60 on Nov 29, 2021 at 5:51 pm

Wise choice for naming causes, since there are far more fruits than colors to choose from. Are grapefruit days next?

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TheHammer on Nov 26, 2021 at 3:23 pm

Dumber than a sack of hammers@ 'Do you read? Do you comprehend?' Of course not. I'm dumber than a sack of hammers. However, I did trigger comment rage from a self proclaimed pacifist. But what can you expect when a chronically inflated brittle male ego tries to attack the mother of all Hammers? That's what your original comment was about, wasn't it, attacking TheHammer, nothing to do with the protection of women and children. And when Orange is the new Black, and black is white and white is black you can spin it anyway you like.

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Anie on Nov 26, 2021 at 1:08 pm

@Psychological Warfare said "Those who fear violence most are geriatric females who experience the least incidences of violence while those who experience the most, young men, are the least concerned about it. ". Please provide a reference to support that statement. Otherwise, it would have been better to preface it with "I think...."

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Psychological Warfare on Nov 26, 2021 at 11:34 am

Dear Female - Very interesting points you raise. I agree. “We” do not take violence in general very seriously. We celebrate it - MMA, Boxing, and even Hockey. Because of this we have to manufacture intersectionalities to make condemnations of violence… You can’t hit women… You can’t discriminate against minorities etc. All good things, however, we should believe that “no” violence is acceptable.

There is an inverse correlation between beliefs about crime victimization and fear. Those who fear violence most are geriatric females who experience the least incidences of violence while those who experience the most, young men, are the least concerned about it.

How about we just stop celebrating and ritualizing violence… No more boys to the frontlines of war, and no more boys to the frontlines of our culture wars - Can’t sit still in class, toxic masculinity, failed by school systems and curriculums that deem them irrelevant excesses of bygone eras…

Up 4 Down 1

The intelligence of hammers in a sack… on Nov 25, 2021 at 6:39 pm

Do you read? Do you comprehend? My post covers both positive and negative symbolism with the colour of orange. I do not have a positivity bias.
The colour has both positive and negative connotations and is the reason that the colour is ambiguous in the most honest interpretation.

I would suggest that you do some research yourself… Balanced research. The ability to see both sides is an indicator of intelligence. It seems as though you suffer from positivity bias which can take away from the ability to perceive one’s intelligence.

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Nathan Living on Nov 25, 2021 at 5:38 pm

Laura and Council have an opportunity to be proactive, so nice to see them starting on the right path.

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Ummm no, TD. on Nov 25, 2021 at 3:20 pm

To be fair, orange has been the colour symbolizing the 16 Days of Activism for a looooong time. Orange was not co-opted by the UN. It was already there. I also understand the significance of orange as it was the colour of the shirt taken from Phyllis Webstad. So the FN did not "co-opt" the colour either.

All will have to live in peace with this one. The City didn't "steal" the colour from reconciliation. They will have to co-exist in orange.

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TheHammer on Nov 25, 2021 at 2:32 pm

Dumber than a sack of Hammers@ ..'Orange is the new black' that's as dumb as it gets. You need to do more research on the color. 'Lying between celestial gold and chthonian red the primary symbolism of the color is that point of balance between the spirit and libido.' 'Both the saffron robe worn by Buddhist monks and the orange velvet cross of the knights of the Holy Ghost are instances of orange as the color of divine love.' Your comment like sheep chaser was entirely negative.

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Female Here on Nov 25, 2021 at 10:38 am

"Cabott said Orange Days is a time to promote action to end the violence against women and girls around the world."

We can't end the violence in our communities but we should promote action around the world. We aren't proactive in addressing that it is still not okay for young men and men in general too vulnerable in the community.

I am sure someone will comment with statistics about violence against women, but when society continues to promote the idea that women are victims and men are perpetrators of these crimes, the stats cannot be considered valid. Furthermore until we make it acceptable for men to report abuse which can be verbal, sexual, and financial the paradigms that have defined us for centuries will continue to perpetuate and change will not occur.

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Jeff Bikaboom on Nov 25, 2021 at 8:13 am

Using the colour orange makes as much sense as complaining about the colour orange. There's only 11 colours, of course there is not enough for every cause. Perhaps a symbol could be used instead, or maybe just some good ol words.

This topic has already made new information come to light for myself. I spoke to a woman who manages a large business in BC and has worked with East Indians, Dutch Reform, Africans, Filipinos, and others who were involved in arranged marriages and mail order wifery. In some families, if the women did not fall in line they were beaten or exiled. Some were even shot. The lady I know helped get many who were exiled from their community get setup to be independent. Can you imagine being part of a culture that exiles you for not following along lockstep with their human rights violations?

Was it men that did the abuse? Yes. Was it their multi-generational culture of men and woman that enabled it? Yes.

Of all the people I have met with arranged marriages, mail order brides, and even polygamous Mormons, they were all happy and in functional relationships. I would say more functional than most of the "standard" marriages of people I know, Though I have never personally met anyone who was brought into one of these situations at a young age. Obviously not all of these types of relationships end well as we have seen recently.

So what is the solution? I would think societal support for the woman/girls that need to escape a violent situation. Which we just so happen to have. Do we need more? More awareness should help get then more support. I agree with others that this support should not be limited to women. I also believe emphasis should be put on the young.

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@bonanzajoe... on Nov 25, 2021 at 6:13 am

...as long as people are still using terms such as “the gays” we are going to continue to need at least a month. You’re on notice.

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The intelligence of hammers in a sack… on Nov 24, 2021 at 8:41 pm

To TheHammer - Orange Revolution… Lol! Orange is the new black… It's an interesting colour in terms of its dark/light dualism. Orange is commonly indicated to represent negative energy. While some consider orange to be warm, energetic and youthful it also conversely represents frivolous, crass and rude behaviours. Darker oranges convey deceitfulness and untrustworthiness - Negative energies. Interesting colour choice for sure.

The comments by Sheepchaser appear to be more inclined to the ridiculousness of yet another cause… Indeed - The matter is solved by dealing with the issue of violence more generally. If society took this more seriously the issue would be 90% solved.
Stop violence against everyone - Done!

Orange was the colour of prison inmate jumpers in the United States. Orange is also associated with royalty in some cultures. With all of these potential meanings the choice of orange is a poor choice. Orange communicates ambiguity at best.

Maybe try chartreuse day or something else a little more obscure… I don’t recall any chartreuse days, weeks, months or years. Then you might have something that says something rather than everything or anything.
Are we trying for diversity or perversity? Hard to tell these days.

Up 8 Down 12

TheHammer on Nov 24, 2021 at 1:23 pm

Sheepchaser@ I guess you haven't heard of the Orange Revolution. FN are not going to complain about a color scheme related to violence against women.
Matthew@ What's stopping you from standing up for boys?

Up 10 Down 12

TheHammer on Nov 24, 2021 at 1:03 pm

Sheepchaser@ Get your history straight. Orange day is not to be confused with Orange men and their enemies in the Green, both willing to blow up women and children. The Protestant Irish don't have a monopoly on the color orange.

Up 27 Down 6

Sheepchaser on Nov 24, 2021 at 10:16 am

Y’all might do some quick reading of history next time. Orange Days is effectively already taken. Ties in very strongly with Northern Ireland and religious/nationalist violence.

As a person of Northern Irish ancestry, do I get to be offended by this cavalier invoking of my multi-generational trauma? Folks marching around in orange was literally part of a slow-burning civil war.

If I were a complete twit, I might take offence. But I’m not, and I know that was not the intention and therefore I am not offended. Let’s see if we can all get back on the sanity train together, yeah?

Up 28 Down 7

TMYK on Nov 24, 2021 at 7:12 am

Same sex partners have an exponentially higher rate of partner abuse. It's actually even higher when you only look at female/female relationships.

Up 34 Down 6

Dave on Nov 24, 2021 at 6:07 am

When are they going to open a shelter for battered men?

Up 48 Down 3

Rick S on Nov 23, 2021 at 8:20 pm

If you want to actually tackle violence against women, then start by tackling the drug problem in the city you're running. Or just color a bunch of days on the calendar orange. That should work, too.

Up 22 Down 2

CJ2 on Nov 23, 2021 at 7:39 pm

What happened to the white ribbons?

Up 10 Down 18

Jeff Bikaboom on Nov 23, 2021 at 5:27 pm

You go Laura, you are such a caring person, so truly thoughtful of you to do this.

I see no problem with bringing awareness to violence against woman and girls, in fact I welcome it. Why it is 16 days long and why it is orange, I have no idea. I see the UN is involved so I am very interested in what agendas will be pushed under the guise of virtue. I hope none, but hope can be foolish.

"Gender-based violence" and "violence against women" are often used interchangeably as seen in the above article. Violence against women is self explanatory, gender-based violence is however a can of worms. From what I can tell, gender-based violence is inflicted on women and girls, by men, and is rooted in power inequalities.

So what the UN is bringing awareness to is violence, by men, against women because of power inequalities. This is a stark difference from awareness to violence against women, and also a stark difference from awareness of inequalities. I hope that Laura and City of Whitehorse will flesh out this subject and bring real awareness.

Up 3 Down 7

bonanzajoe on Nov 23, 2021 at 4:26 pm

Max, "I believe in cause and effect".

Up 23 Down 11

bonanzajoe on Nov 23, 2021 at 4:25 pm

Anie: There are 365 days in the year plus 1 every 4 years. But we are going to run out of days to honor special events. Seems to be happening soon. What will they do then? Start on the hours? And not offend anyone, but do the gays really need a whole month every year?

Up 18 Down 6

bonanzajoe on Nov 23, 2021 at 4:14 pm

Juniper: But I guess Cabot and all her fellow comrades around the world believe the colour orange will solve the problem. Instead, like you say, of attacking the problem with might, they do it with a colored crayon. Yeah, that'll get the dastardly deed done.

Up 32 Down 9

These are not the droids you’re looking for… on Nov 23, 2021 at 3:51 pm

There is a large scale assault on the male-gender occurring globally. Men and boys have always been considered expendable - To the frontlines with you. Save the women and children first. Society is failing boys in school as we watch the relative metrics decline for males in almost every aspect of socio-economics.

Anyway - Here we have society absolutely failing boys and men without regard to the consequences. Because of this we have mass societal chaos. Talk about no-brainers!

So, I propose that everyday is blue-shirt day until we turn the tide against the oppression of male-ness and consequently the oppression against boys and men. Wear blue to show your support for male-ness!
Wear blue today to show you care about the oppression of boys and men!

Up 86 Down 36

Max Mack on Nov 23, 2021 at 3:13 pm

Cabott has barely been in the mayor's chair and she is already virtue-signalling. Pathetic.
Overall, males are predominately the victims of violence. This fact is indisputable, but this is a fact you will never hear from Cabott.

In domestic situations, men are victims in roughly 1/2 of cases. In other words, women are just as likely as men to be perpetrators of domestic violence. However, women are more likely than men to report domestic violence and more likely to show up in the ER.

"The City of Whitehorse recognizes that no level of violence is acceptable." Really, what CoW means is that no level of violence against women and girls is acceptable. But, violence against men and boys is a-ok. Got it.

Up 95 Down 11

Anie on Nov 23, 2021 at 3:05 pm

We are already doubling up on days devoted to special woke causes, now we are doubling up on the colours. Seems to me that if anyone can't find themselves a special day then they are just not trying hard enough. I wonder, though, if average people pay any attention, or is this just another way for public figures to put themselves on display, again.

Up 67 Down 19

Josey Wales on Nov 23, 2021 at 2:59 pm

Nope...not getting on board that ideological crazy train.
I will however support a campaign to reduce violence period, all inclusive!
...and the city can start by merely asking M to start the purge, end B.O.L.E.
will they, not a chance. See the new boss, same as the ol boss.

Up 87 Down 22

JSM on Nov 23, 2021 at 2:12 pm

Gender based violence against women and girls?
Are we going to have days for Violence against men? Most statistical studies show 2/5 victims of gender based violence are males.

We are all about equality these days right?

Up 62 Down 15

Thomas Brewer on Nov 23, 2021 at 2:01 pm

Wonder how the FN's are going to appreciate the colour being co-opted by the UN. Good luck in fighting that one.

Up 63 Down 21

TD on Nov 23, 2021 at 1:49 pm

This seems tone deaf. In Canada, orange is the colour for Every Child Matters/recognizing Indigenous people. I feel like this isn't very respectful of the meaning orange has here.

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Juniper Jackson on Nov 23, 2021 at 1:37 pm

There is a movie, called "I Am All Girls". It is about trafficking. At the end, it runs the stats. Every time a little girl died, or was prostituted, I cried. Between 500,000 and 700,000 women are trafficked every year, and approximately half of them are boys and girls under 12 years of age. This is a world wide tragedy of unimaginable proportions. Pedophile rings. Individual pedophiles. It is not enough to declare a orange day. The legislation that governs penalties have to be strengthened and enforced. Personally, my opinion is child predators should receive capital punishment. But, this crime should see the front pages, it is tied to drugs and the uglier side of crime.

Up 89 Down 18

Matthew on Nov 23, 2021 at 1:30 pm

LOL! That will surely help.. they say gender based violence multiple times, but really means only women and girls. Even though young boys are being equally as exploited.. more division based politics.. yay..

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