On Friday, September 20, a march of Take Back the Night walked from Millennium Park, down Canyon Street and back, in Creston.
Survivors of gender-based sexual and domestic violence and their supporters shared their experiences and showed their support during the Take Back the Night March.
Stephannie Dunn, Executive Director at the Kootenai Community Centre Society in Creston says it is a worldwide movement that is over 50 years old that originated in Vancouver.
She says it’s meant to bring awareness to communities and society about gender-based violence, sexual assault, and sexual violence in all forms.
“It’s an epidemic, is what it is. It’s not a woman’s problem. It is a people problem. And so we’re just trying to bring awareness to the amount of violence,” said Dunn.
“Every single day there are assaults. Every 48 hours a woman in Canada is murdered by her intimate partner. It’s a real problem all across Canada and 50 years later, while there’s been some change, there hasn’t been substantial change. And so we’re looking for that.”
Dunn says one in four women have been through domestic violence at some point in their lives.
During a presentation prior to the walk, the names of women killed by domestic violence in Canada alone from 2018 to 2023 were displayed.
Dunn says they had to stop in 2018 because there were too many names.
This marks the first walk since the pandemic, and Dunn says she was impressed with the number of people who showed up.
She hopes the walk is a beacon of support for those struggling.
“To have a walk symbolizes that we’re not alone in our fight, that we’re not alone in coming together as a community to try to make a difference. This is a visual; marching together in solidarity to bring awareness to this event.”
She says, with the amount of support and coverage of this year’s event, she expects it to grow in the future.
“I look forward to it growing and having more people every year, as we see people walking in this march and we hear the speeches and word gets out more people become educated. More people will become aware and more people will hopefully join us in our march.”
Unfortunately, Dunn says survivors still face negative stigma and oftentimes it makes it difficult for them to heal.
“It’s a societal issue and it needs to be it needs to be addressed. The victim shaming, the blaming, all of that that needs to be kiboshed. It actually deters a woman from healing.”
However, she says there are resources available to help those that need it.
“You’re not alone, there’s help out. There’s support out there. There are so many people, unfortunately, who have been touched by violence whether it’s themselves or somebody that they know. There are services out there, there are resources available.”
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