Bio
Chris McDowell is a tireless activist and filmmaker whose work has focused on stimulating important discussions around gender-based violence and mental health. Her formative work, The Women That Got Away gave voice to those who faced attackers and escaped, underlying the traumatic and often overlooked confrontations women face more than men. In response to the massacre at Montreal’s L'école polytechnique, Chris mobilized a group of women to establish the Women's Monument Project—which led to the creation of a memorial work by sculptor Beth Alber in Vancouver. In 1996, working with Myriam Fougère, Chris turned her attention to the mental health care system with Within These Walls. Chris continues her efforts for prevention of violence against women and girls with the project ROSE: rememberoursisterseverywhere.com.