Milton installs its own purple ‘Barb’s Bench’

The first purple bench in Milton was installed Thursday to honour and support victims of intimate partner violence, courtesy of Halton Women’s Place and its partners, Halton Regional Police and the Town of Milton.

The bench, part of ‘Barb’s Bench Project’, which began in Nova Scotia to honour Barbara Baillie, who was strangled to death by her husband of 25 years in Spryfield, Nova Scotia in 1990, is the fourth in Halton Region.

The first was installed December 6, 2021 when a purple bench was placed at Dominion Garden Park in Georgetown on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women – a day that honours the memory of the 14 women who were murdered at Ecole Polytechnic in Montreal simply because they were women.

Georgetown’s bench was in memory of Darian Henderson-Bellman, who was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend in 2020.

The second was placed in Oakville Wednesday while the third was installed earlier Thursday at Prospect Park in Acton.

Burlington is expected to get its own Purple Bench today.

Baille’s murder shook the lives of the small Nova Scotia community and led to the creation of the Bench Project, with purple benches – park benches were Baillie’s sanctuary from the constant abuse – placed throughout the province. Each bench bore a commemorative plaque with information on how to get help when experiencing domestic violence.

The project eventually spread to other parts of Canada.

November is Women Abuse Prevention Month.