Members of the Grande Prairie Community gathered for the 4th Annual Take Back The Night march on Monday night in support of sexual violence awareness.
Odyssey House Executive Director and Chair of Impact Grande Prairie Lisa Watson says it’s always an important event on the calendar.
“It was great to have the event tonight. We wanted to organize it on a day when the weather was nice and it also aligns with sexual violence awareness month,” she says.
Watson was glad to see more than 50 people show up in support of the initiative. People had signs saying No Means No, others honked in support of the march as people made their way through the downtown core.
“It’s always nice to have a good mix of individuals and allies that are here to support the cause. Ultimately, sexual violence is more prevalent within the female gender but we do understand and recognize that it does happen amongst a broad variety of genders. We always appreciate anyone standing with us for the Take Back The Night march.”
In terms of the prevention of sexual violence, Watson says that education is very important.
“Domestic violence is 100 per cent preventable. We will continue to work with members of the community or anyone else that has suffered. We will keep working until we don’t have that issue here anymore.”
If you have experienced any form of sexual violence and need crisis support or counseling in the Grande Prairie area, call Pace Sexual Assault Centre at 780-539-6692, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can also contact Odyssey House.
The crowd chanted one, two, three, four, we won’t take it anymore. Take Back The Night is a global initiative to combat sexual violence and violence. It began in San Francisco in the 1970s.