Raising their voices to end violence against women

Women, men and children raised their voices and marched the streets of downtown North Bay in unison Wednesday to eliminate violence against women during the annual Take Back the Night march.

The annual event, organised by the Women’s Centre at Nipissing University, reconfirmed that women everywhere have the right to walk when they want and where they want morning, noon or night on any given day.

Before taking to the street organisers and community leaders spoke to the very real issues women face and the fact that they look forward to a day when they are out of a job because women will not need rape crisis centres or shelters.

“We are here tonight because we know that women are made vulnerable to violence through their social, economic and political disadvantage, and the systems that work to maintain it,” Shannon Elissa, Nipissing University Women's Centre President, told the crowd at Cecil’s Eatery.
“We are here tonight because we know that women are accosted, harassed and assaulted on the streets of North Bay, and in their homes, and that only roughly 10% of all assaults are reported to police,” states fellow organiser Katelyn Ott.
Take Back the Night is a world-wide event that protests violence against women, and brings awareness that women have not yet gained equal rights and debuted in Canada in the late 70’s.

“Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. And it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture, or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development, and peace,” UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, 1999

The United Nations Development Fund for Women say at least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. More unsettling is that the abuser is usually someone known to her. They also state violence against women and girls is a universal epidemic and perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation that we know today it devastates lives, fractures communities, and stalls development.

The Women’s Centre will now begin preparations for the annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the December 6th vigil for the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.