Take Back the Night 2015: September 24 @6pm

This year, community partners in Guelph-Wellington will be hosting the 28th annual Take Back the Night rally and march, taking place on Thursday September 24th. 

Take Back the Night 2015’s theme will be “Illuminating Our Stories.” We would like to show how sexual violence impacts people in Guelph-Wellington and beyond. The more the community knows, the better able members will be to intervene or support someone who has experienced sexual violence. Hearing others’ thoughts and messages of support can also show survivors that their voices matter and their own experiences are important. 

To accompany this year’s theme, the Take Back the Night Committee will be creating a Wall of Stories. This wall will be made of cardstock story “bricks” and illuminated from within. We are in the process of organizing a workshop before Take Back the Night where all folks are invited to create their own bricks for the wall. We have also created an online form where those who cannot attend the workshop or who wish to share their words and thoughts anonymously are able to do so. 

The link to the online form is as follows: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ScWkVwqjpgtjELYOul8TpruvjXBtwBHqP55B5PuJsGE/viewform?c=0&w=1

The full Wall of Stories description can be found at:  https://www.facebook.com/events/884158931657300/

We are also holding a contest to find a design for t-shirts and promotional material that we will be using at Take Back the Night.  We are looking for a stylized feminist slogan that highlights solidarity and action against sexual violence, resilience, equality, empowerment or another related theme of the artist’s choice, and/or an artistic interpretation of the above!

 More information can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1622999844645192/

We are hoping you will share this information on Take Back the Night and current initiatives with your contacts and participate in the event!

10 DAYS OF RESILENCE

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS TO LAUNCH 10 DAYS OF RESILENCE EVENTS

According to Stats Canada 2013, Guelph is one of the safest cities in Ontario. Despite being what many people would deem a safe city, gender-based violence still happens here. That is why some community organizations have decided to collaborate to bring 10 Days of awareness, celebration, action, and change this fall from September 25^th to October 4^th.  While much of the focus of the 10 Days is around raising awareness of gender-based violence, the group also wants to try and create more room for discussions around the ways queer and trans folks experience violence, as well as celebrate the resilience within these communities.  

Because violence in our community affects everyone, the 10 Days group wanted to provide lots of different opportunities for people to get involved, says Jessica St. Peter, the Public Educator from Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis; “People can connect with equality in various ways and sometimes certain events limit people’s participation but by expanding the opportunities for people to be engaged and informed we can have a greater impact in our community”. 

Experiencing violence has negative impacts on people’s health as well and can put them at a greater risk of HIV says Olivia Kijewski, the Women’s Community Development Coordinator at HIV/AIDS Resources & Community Health. “It’s important that we work together to challenge violence and its detrimental effects on our community”, says Kijewski.

Some of the multiple organizations working together on the 10 Days include: the Guelph Resource Centre for Gender Empowerment and Diversity (GRCGED), Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis, HIV/AIDS Resources & Community Health (ARCH), the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG), SlutWalk Guelph, and the Wellness Education Centre. 

The week will kick off on Thursday September 25^th at 6:30 pm in Marianne’s Park for the 27^th Annual Take Back the Night march and rally to raise awareness about and end sexual violence against women and girls. Other events during the 10 Days include: A workshop for young girls on bullying & self-esteem, Wen-do self-identified women’s self-defense training, service provider training on Anti-Oppressive Practice Approaches to Women’s Health, a sex Toy Workshop, trivia night at the Jimmy Jazz, an LGBTQ+ discussion group on Queer responses to violence, a documentary screening of “Jasad and the Queen of Contradictions”, an information sharing and discussion of ARCH’s sex worker needs assessment, as well as a workshop on consent by Karen B.K. Chan. The 10 Days will conclude with the 2^nd annual SlutWalk Guelph march at beginning at 1 pm at the Market Square, City Hall. SlutWalk Guelph is a movement that works to challenge victim blaming, slut-shaming, and sexual assault, stating that those who experience sexual assault are never at fault. 

For more information regarding any of these events visit www.gwwomenincrisis.org/ or contact wiceducator@gwwomenincrisis.org for details.

Jessica St. Peter

Public Educator

Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis

Cell: 519-993-5624

Phone: 519-836-1110 ext.234 

TAKE BACK THE NIGHT 2014!!!!!

What does Take Back the Night mean to me?

A world where I can walk home alone at night after school or after work, without fearing what might be hiding in the shadows. A world where I can wear whatever I want without living in fear of inviting unwanted attention. A world where I can be a woman and that can mean whatever I want it to. 

Take Back the Night means that and so much more. This event unites people all over the world for one night to stand up against the fear, oppression and violence that women across the world experience everyday simply because they are women. It gives women a voice in a world where they are constantly being silenced. This night is an opportunity to reclaim the streets, to become empowered and to raise awareness.

For over the past two decades, Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis has collaborated with the wider community to make this very important event a reality each and every year. This year, the Take Back the Night march and rally will take place on Thursday, September 25 at 6:30 – 9:00pm. We will meet at Marianne’s Park and march through downtown to City Hall. The park itself was dedicated to Marianne Goulden in 1993 by the city of Guelph. Marianne was one of the first women to stay at the Women in Crisis shelter. She became a volunteer soon after and eventually a staff member for Women in Crisis. On January 21, 1992 Marianne Goulden was stabbed to death by her common law partner, Timothy Weldon, in front of her teenage daughter. 

Violence affects each and every one of us. It can impact us directly if we experience or witness it ourselves. It can impact us indirectly when we watch our friends, loved ones or even acquaintances live through it. And it shapes who we are as women when we are taught from a very young age to not go out after dark, to not dress a certain way, to live and act in a manner that will keep us safe. What is safety if we live in constant fear? What is safety if your partner is the one perpetrating the violence against you? What is safety if our children, our future, continue to witness acts of violence in the home?
I invite you to answer the question then:

What does Take Back the Night mean to you?

Refuse to Give Up! What is Resiliency?

Take Back the Night’s focus this year is ‘refuse to give up’, which is an example of resiliency. So what then, is resiliency? Resiliency is the ability to quickly recover from difficulties, such as trauma, threats, or tragedies. Being resilient does not mean experiencing no difficulties or hardships, it means moving forward with supportive relationships, encouragements, and reassurance. Resiliency is refusing to be silenced when standing up against the violence directed towards women and children.

The beginning of September marks the beginning of a new school year where students are met with positive beginnings. However, students from at least two universities were faced with negative messages glorifying non-consensual intercourse. Last week, a pro-rape chant was used during frosh week at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The chant itself celebrated and promoted underage, non-consensual sex: “SMU boys we like them young… Y is for your sister, O is for oh so tight, U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is for grab that a**.”  Similarity, the same pro-rape chant was sung during frosh week at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.

It was revealed that this particular chant has been used for some years. According to the Global Mail, the students’ attempted to conceal the chants by the mutual agreement that “if it happens in the group, it has to stay in the group.” Furthermore, there were students that have come forward complaining about the chants; however, their concerns were dismissed. It was not until the videos were posted on the internet that disciplinary measures and actions were taken to stop the chant from occurring.

Resiliency can come from different sources; from individuals or from a group, it can be personal or it can be public resiliency.  Regarding the pro-rape chants, resiliency came from the public; resiliency came from the students stepping up against the chants and fellow peers. Resiliency can mean different things to different people. What does resiliency mean to you?

There are no easy solutions to eliminate violence against women; we need a joint effort from society, governments, men and women. We can begin by recognizing and standing up against violence – let’s refuse to give up!

Sources:

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/resilience?q=Resiliency#resilience__6

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/does-rape-chant-furor-tell-us-value-university-200532833.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/ubc-shifts-into-damage-control-over-offensive-student-chant/article14183713/

Hello Everyone, 

Take Back the Night (TBTN) is just around the corner - September 26th!

Take Back the Night has become synonymous with standing up against sexual violence that is directed towards women. The TBTN march is an opportunity to reclaim the streets and to speak up against the violence. The first recorded event with the principles and ideas of TBTN occurred in the United States in October 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event was organized as a response from citizens outraged after the murder of young microbiologist, Susan Alexander Speeth. She was stabbed to death blocks from her home while she was walking alone. In March 1976, the first "reclaim the night march" was held in Belgium to protest the ways violence affects the lives of women. 

The term "Take Back the Night" did not come into use until 1977, which comes from the title of a memorial read by Anne Pride at an anti-violence rally that same year.

Canada's first march was held in 1978 in Vancouver, BC. In 1981, the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centers announced that the third Friday in September be declared the evening for Take Back the Night marches. Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis has held an annual Take Back the Night march for decades. The march is held in Marianne's Park. The park itself was dedicated to Marianne Goulden in 1993 by the city of Guelph. Marianne Goulden was one of the first women to stay at the Women in Crisis shelter. Marianne was stabbed by her common-law partner, Timothy Weldon, in front of her teenage daughter. (For more information on Marianne see sources below). The violence affects us all whether it be directly or indirectly. Come join the march and stand up against sexual violence against women. Let's refuse to give up the fight! 

Sources: 

Takebackthenight.org/about

Canadianwomen.org/node/1949

Citizensshift.org/node/6913&dossier_nid=1122 

Take Back the Night Guelph 2013

SAVE THE DATE!
Thursday, September 26, 2013

If you are interested in participating in the planning and preperation of the annuam march and rally to end sexual violence agaisn women and children please email wiceducator@gwwomenincrisis.org.