“I believe you, and it’s possible to heal.”
Cheryl Bujold, executive director of the Dragonfly Counselling and Support Centre, said that was the message the second annual Take Back the Night was hoping to send to survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
”We’re saying, ‘no more to violence.’ We want this to be a safe place for all individuals and a safe community for all individuals to be able to walk the streets and be able to interact with each other,” she expressed.
Take Back the Night, which was hosted on Thursday, May 2, started with participants marching down the streets of Bonnyville carrying signs with messages such as ‘no means no’ and ‘stop sexual violence.’
The group left the Executive Centre in Bonnyville and made their way down 50 Ave. to Hwy. 41, cheering and encouraging drivers to make some noise for the cause, before heading back.
”I didn’t think people were actually going to honk,” said 16-year-old participant Zoé Lafond. “But, it was actually really good feedback from the community.”
This year saw around 30 people take part, a jump from the dozen or so that attended the first event in 2017.
Sierra Griep, 14, noted having the walk down main street brought the topic to the forefront.
She said, “It’s not something that people talk about, so doing something like (the walk) is raising awareness and definitely helps.”
According to Bujold, in Canada one in three women or girls will experience sexual violence in their lifetime, while one in six boys will encounter the same. Although she believes those numbers may be inaccurate as it’s an under-reported crime.
”It happens a lot to everyone,” expressed Seth Bujold, 10, adding he was glad to walk in support of the cause.
Take Back the Night is a worldwide initiative to stand up against women feeling unsafe to walk alone at night.
”There’s many misconceptions about nighttime, women, sexual violence, and strangers,” Bujold detailed. “We know that’s not actually the case, that a majority of the people that are impacted by these cases are impacted by people that they know and love.”
For 11-year-old Ava Ellis, it was an opportunity to come together as a community and let others know they’re not alone.
”A lot of girls don’t have the courage to speak up to the person who’s sexually harassing them or bullying them, and it’s important to tell those girls that, ‘it’s okay, and you can speak up to others.’”
With an increase in conversations surrounding sexual violence being prompted by campaigns such as Me Too, Bujold said this was their way of bringing awareness to what resources are available locally.
”We’re here to continue the movement that’s been started by some of these brave folks who are coming forward and sharing their stories with us. We want to keep that momentum and the voice for the cause continuing because it’s such an important message. We want to create a region and community free of sexual and domestic violence.”
Along with letting survivors know they aren’t alone, it was also an opportunity to honour those who have lost their lives as a result of intimate partner violence.
”Tonight is an important night, because we want to remember those who have been impacted by sexual and domestic violence, and also those who have died because of it. Together we united today as one unified collection, and spread that message,” expressed Bujold.
