Today is International Women's Day. It's a day to stand together, to call for rights when they're lacking, and to defend rights when they're in danger.

On Wednesday, December 21, Stephen Woodworth, the MP for Kitchener Waterloo, attempted to reopen the debate on abortion in Canada. In part one, I looked at why the reopening of the debate was inevitable:

On December 21, 2011, backbench Member of Parliament Stephen Woodworth issued a statement calling for the Canadian government to investigate its lack of abortion legislation, and called for human rights protections to be extended to the fetus:

"Canadian law provides no human rights protection whatsoever for children before the moment of complete birth. This results from an unusual Canadian statute which defines a human being as a child who has completely proceeded in a living state from the mother's body, whether or not the child has breathed. This means that in Canada a child is legally considered to be sub-human while his or her little toe remains in the birth canal, even if he or she is breathing."

For the first time in 22 years, the University of Victoria (UVic) will not be hosting a memorial for the National Day of Remembrance and Action Against Violence Against Women.

The December 6 National Day of Remembrance started on the first anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, an incident where 14 women studying engineering were killed in a shooting at the École Polytechnique. In the past, classes at UVic have been cancelled for an hour.

Instead, two film screenings with panel discussions were hosted on campus. On November 29, Marker of Change was screened and on December 1, Finding Dawn was screened.

A selection of photos documenting the 2011 Women's Housing March in the Downtown Eastside, opposing gentrification and pushing for social housing. The march was held September 17, 2011.

A women's drum group lead the march through the Downtown Eastside.

A banner drop saying "Developers Control City Hall" set the tone for the march.