On September 15th, 2012, the women and children at Nellie’s will go to the Maseryk-Cowan Community Centre in Parkdale to participate in the 32nd annual Take Back the Night Community Fair, Rally and March, organized by the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape. Every year, women, children, genderqueer and transpeople take to the streets to protest violence against women and victim-blaming. The march takes place in different areas of Toronto each year in an attempt to reach out to different communities and to reiterate that violence against women can happen anywhere.
This year the theme is Un-Occupying Our Minds, Healing Ourselves. The event starts with the Community Fair and dinner. Representatives from various women’s and other social service agencies will have booths set up in the community centre to provide information pamphlets, key chains, magnets and other items. Nellie’s will have its own booth so please feel free to stop by and visit! Then, we will step outside for the rally. The rally is usually a combination of cries to action, stories, poetry, music, self-defense demonstrations and more. After this, we will take to the streets for the Take Back the Night march. We will walk, sing, chant, march, rally and cheer.
As a shelter for women and children who have experienced violence and other forms of oppression, the march feels like a new home; it is not only a place of solidarity but also a call to action. The message is heard loud and clear throughout the streets:
“Hey hey, ho ho – violence against women has got to go!”
“Hey mister, mister – keep your hands off my sister!”
“Together, united, we cannot be defeated!”
The march is empowering, engaging, fun and builds community. It is quite moving seeing so many women and survivors of violence rallying together for change. But, it is also a reminder; it reminds us why we are marching and why we continue to work to end violence against women.
We walk for our own safety, for the safety of our mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, aunts, partners and friends. We march to commemorate the murder and life of Barbra Schlifer, a feminist/activist lawyer who on the night that she was called to the bar, was murdered. We walk to commemorate her death and the death of so many women who have died through violence. We also walk to commemorate their lives. We walk to remember, to build solidarity and to build a future free from violence against women.
This year, it is especially important to take to the streets to march. Given the sexual assaults in the Annex and the murders and other acts of violence against women that appear in the news daily, it is important to get involved and take action. Given the current political climate, we need to hold abusers responsible and make it clear that “Short skirts don’t rape – rapist rape”. Join us on September 15th at 4pm for the Community Fair, 6pm for the Rally and 8pm for the march – we need to march together to take back the night and take just one more step towards making this city a safer place for all women and children.
For more info about Take Back The Night, please see the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape’s website.
