In light of recent sexual assaults around the streets of Ottawa, more than 500 women marched in solidarity on the evening of Sept. 24 to protest and raise awareness about sexual violence in the annual Take Back the Night walk.
On the evening of Sept. 23, a 34-year-old woman reported being sexually assaulted in a vacant building in the Carlington area. The day before that, a 20-year-old woman was walking along the Rideau Canal late at night when police said she was grabbed and inappropriately touched.
“I can’t even express the anger we feel – especially to have a woman raped the day before the march,” said Concillia
Muonde, the public education co-ordinator at the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Ottawa.
“City hall has to start addressing why women are not feeling safe in the community. This [march] allows women to reclaim their strength in unity, to demand more pro-active measures to end violence.”
This year marks the 31st year that Ottawa has participated in Take Back the Night. The march itself is held internationally, the first one being held in Belgium in 1976.
Led by Aboriginal drummers, marchers gathered around The Women’s Monument at Minto Park and made their way up Elgin Street to Wellington Street, all the while chanting slogans and holding up banners. From there they headed towards the Byward Market and finished off the march at the University of Ottawa.
“The energy out there was very empowering – lots of men were cheering from the sidelines, and cars were honking on the busy streets to show support,” said Carleton student Rachel McSwain.
McSwain said she was sexually assaulted in the previous school year, but did not have enough evidence to press charges. Because of her experience, she started having trouble getting up for school and even thought about dropping out this year. She said the march was a major turning point in her recovery.
“Society makes it out to be the woman’s fault – she’s questioned for what she wore that night or where she was. The bottom line is that the victim isn’t to blame, and the march allowed me to vent out this frustration in a healthy way,” McSwain said.
McSwain’s case is all too common, according to Kandace Price, the programming co-ordinator at Carleton’s Womyn’s Centre.
“Most women that are assaulted don’t come forth to the police, but when they do our legal system re-victimizes them. Only 3 per cent of cases that go to court end up with convictions,” Price said.