Women Step it Up to Rally and Rock the Vote at Queen's Park!

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 27, 2011) - The provincial women's Step it Up! Campaign will take to Queen's Park on Thursday to send a message to all provincial election candidates: Women's Votes Count!

The Step it Up! Campaign is a province-wide election campaign to make violence against women visible to candidates and parties that need women's votes to win on October 6^th. They will be at Queen's Park for a rally to bring their message to the doors of the Legislature.

"Women across the province have been holding events to support the Campaign and especially to make violence against women visible to them," said Eileen Morrow, Coordinator of the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses, the provincial women's shelter network.

So far, groups have held events featuring the Campaign in London, Kingston, Ottawa, Carleton Place, Sault Ste. Marie, Red Lake, Oshawa, Renfrew County, Wawa, Hamilton, Markham, Brampton, Halton and Brantford. Thursday's rally brings the campaign to Toronto.

Campaign representatives have also met with the four leading political parties in Ontario to discuss their issues. All parties promised to send a written response.

"We know it's hard to get attention right now. All parties are focusing on the dismal economy. We need them to understand that economic downturns increase violence against women, and that women's economic security is tenuous even in good times—these are not good times for women," said Erin Lee-Todd, Director of Lanark County Interval House, Carleton Place.

The campaign asks candidates to support measures to address violence against women in areas that include sexual violence, housing, income security, women's services, equity and access policy, justice, workplace safety, education and training, and support for survivor inclusion.

"Parties need to step up and take responsibility for making sure that women keep the gains they've made towards equality and make progress even in hard economic situations. Women's lives are not 'extras' to be cut or ignored when times are tough," said Morrow.

For full information on the Step it Up! Campaign, its "Platform for Parties 2011" and political party responses to date, visit our website at: www.stepitupontario.ca. We're also on Facebook.

Watch our new Step it Up! video on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IsNXXPUBdc.