Someone asked me the other day what I thought of the furor brought on by Conservative Party leadership candidate Kellie Leitch's declaration that women ought to be allowed to carry pepper spray to defend themselves from attackers.
I responded sardonically that the idea of arming people to empower them and prevent violence against them is not novel; there is a great deal of statistical data that shows where people can carry weapons, less violence happens.
My opinion on armed self-defence is well known by this point. But to give my own spin to this latest announcement from the crowd of leadership hopefuls within the CPC race, I'd much rather see pepper spray and pistols in the hands of women than hear about "female empowerment" ever again.
The truth is we don't empower women - for evidence, simply ask those involved with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women projects if we're doing enough (we're not).
This is not "reverse, reverse victim blaming." I do not believe that if we arm women we are both magically preventing all future attacks while simultaneously washing our communal hands of responsibility for those who are still vulnerable and attacked. And there are issues besides self-defence when it comes to female independence, especially for women who come from the hardest pressed socio-economic demographics in our society.
Our society has many sins to answer for when it comes to how women are treated - even here in the "progressive West" - by their male counterparts, fellow women and, yes, even some of our institutions which do carry inherent biases. But if there is a simple, concrete, and economic solution to one dire aspect of issues facing women, arming them against violence is certainly at the very top of the list.
Women will not be saved by another inquiry, full stop.
Only giving them the tools they need to become independent can furnish them the full charter right of "life, liberty, and security of the person." Much of that is tied to education and employment; but in day to day life, whether walking down the street from their homes or hitching a ride between towns, women have a right to be the masters of their own defence.
They ought to be given the weapons to do so without delay.
