Women and children literally took to the streets last Thursday to show their for Take Back the Night. The event, which runs in cities across Canada, the U.S. and Europe on the last Thursday of every September, was organized locally by the Sexual Assault Centre Kingston (SACK).
Before the march, participants rallied in Confederation Basin Park, where SACK’s Public Education Coordinator Heather Lackner shared statistics about sexual and physical violence done to women and children.
Lackner said as well as raising awareness about women’s issues locally, the event aims to show for women around the world.
“The purpose is to align with other women in other cities with similar beliefs,” she said. “That belief is that violence against women and children is not okay and is everyone’s responsibility to stop.” The Three Sisters, a traditional drumming group made up entirely of Aboriginal women who are survivors of abuse, performed and spoke of their own experiences with violence and the increased likelihood for Aboriginal women to be victims.
From Confederation Basin, a police escort led up Queen Street to Clergy Street and back down Princess Street, marchers cheering and shouting anti-violence chants.
Lackner, who organized the event for SACK, said she counted at least 160 women and children participating, as well as a few men who followed the parade along the sidewalk.
“It’s about double last year’s numbers, which I think had a lot to do with including the Three Sisters. It helped give a focus to the evening,” Lackner said.
Lisa Doxtator, a Kingston resident, is a member of the Three Sisters. She said the group is part of Kingston Interval House’s programming.
“Our group is about the three sisters of the earth—beans, corn and squash,” Doxtator said. “It’s about . If we can do that with each other, we can be healed.”
In the context of women’s issues, the Aboriginal symbolism of the drum is especially meaningful.
“Our drum is our connection to Mother Earth, who is our first mother. The drum represents the heartbeat of the earth,” Doxtator said. “The spirit responds to music, so our drum is our medicine to help us find our voice.” Though attendance at Take Back the Night was up from last year, there were few representatives of student groups or any official University presence at the event.
“It’s totally unacceptable how no Queen’s student groups are here,” said Morgan Vanek, MA ’08.
Jeff Brown, AMS social issues commissioner, said the University sent representatives to the event.
of the Sexual Health Resource Centre were present.
The chairs of the AMS-run group Education on Queer Issues Project (EQuIP) used this as one of their Queerientation events.
Other AMS representatives weren’t present.
“It was more in the hecticness of getting started with the year, it was an oversight,” Brown said. “There’s other ways the AMS, as a whole, progression in the area of gender equality.” Though not attending under any official banner, seven residents of the Sci ’44 Co-op came to Take Back the Night after being urged to attend by their building’s maintenance staff.
Melissa Mann, Carly Jenkins, Sarah Smith and Lise Hamilton, all ArtSci ’09, and co-op residents, marched at the front of the parade, often leading the cheers.
“I’m here to take back the night, to speak up,” Mann said. “It’s my right to walk down the street and know I’m not going to be raped, to be in a loving relationship free of violence and to lend to those who have been made victims.”
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