Women's Sexual Assault Centre of Renfrew County photo, Facebook
A march is scheduled to be held this Thursday (Sept. 17) in Barry’s Bay at Watertower Park starting at 6:30, a walk in which United Way regional director Jade Nauman says is going to help support and provide awareness of all levels of violence.
“We (United Way) will be there to show those affected by violence that they’re not alone,” Nauman says. “We’re working with frontline organizations and communities across Eastern Ontario to invest where the need is greatest and have the most impact.”
According to Statistics Canada, women in Canada will be a victim to violence twice as often as men, and they’re over three times as likely to fall victim to partner violence, but Nauman says the walk isn’t just about women it’s designed to raise awareness on all levels of violence.
“It’s not just a woman’s issue; this impacts everyone in the community,” she says. “It affects the individual, family and is a generational issue too. This is why United Way continues to work with partners to invest in programs and resources at the community level.”
Nauman says United Way is continuing to work with several partners, including Carleton University in Ottawa, to provide insight into the rural communities in Prescott, Russell, Lanark and Renfrew County to understand how living in a rural community impacts violence.
Take Back the Night walk kicks off Thursday in Barry’s Bay.
Photo supplied by United Way.
Take Back the Night is a march that has been around since the 1970s, and according to the Renfrew County Sexual Assault and Rape Crisis Support Center director Lori Norwood, it’s a national march to illustrate community action and unity by those affected by violence.
“It builds solidarity with those who have been impacted by sexual violence, and is ultimately about reclaiming spaces and saying we have the right to walk safely at night,” Norwood says. “It also says we have the right to walk safely in the streets of our community, and it does happen, but it’s not okay.”
The event is free to attend and is designed to be centred around the community and saying that sexual violence isn’t okay.
The event marks 11 years since three women were killed and also marks four years since a jury recommended that the province declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.
