It’s time yet again for “Take Back The Night” 2025 and this year the event will take place in the town of Killaloe on Thursday, September 18th.
Take Back the Night is a global movement that brings communities together to end sexual violence, stand with survivors, and reclaim safe spaces. By marching and speaking out, they unite to declare that violence has no place in our streets, our homes, or our lives.
This will be the 32nd annual event which has become an International observance with its beginnings in Europe and then eventually Canada and the US. Lori Norwood is the Centre Director of the Renfrew County Sexual Assault centre and Lori tells myFM that this is by far the most important date on their calendar every year and the purpose of the protest is fairly simple at it’s core:
Recent statistics have shown that:
- 44% of Indigenous women in Canada have experienced physical or sexual abuse by an intimate partner and are 16 times more likely to be slain or to disappear than white women. Indigenous women who are also disabled or 2SLGBTQIA+ face even greater risks.
- 2SLGBTQIA+ people face higher rates of violence and are less likely to be believed. For example, bisexual people experience sexual assault at a rate nearly 29 times higher than the rate among heterosexual Canadians and 70% of Trans youth in Canada have been sexually harassed.
- Women with disabilities are sexually assaulted at more than four times the rate of women without disabilities.
Norwood says that at it’s roots it’s a constant battle for acknowledgement of the fact that these statistics do exist and that nothing short of eradication of the systemic violence is going to be acceptable to victims who have suffered for so long. The biggest obstacle, says Norwood is the incredibly low percentage of cases that are actually reported in Renfrew County:
Norwood urges anyone who has been affected by gender based violence or perhaps knows someone who has to come out on Thursday night as she says that the camaraderie the night fosters is often all it takes to get conversations started to affect real change:
The protest kicks off at Station Park in Killaloe at 7PM on Thursday night where speeches will start off the evening followed by a walk through the streets of the town ending back at Station Park. Come one, come all.
(Written By: Richard Evans)
