The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Chanting passionately and bearing photos of murder victims, about 30 people marched down Main Street to demand safety and equality for women. The turnout had organizers declaring Take Back the Night, held last Monday evening, Nov. 26, a positive step forward. 'We are all here to demand that a woman's right to walk our streets safely be upheld,' organizer Colleen Arnold told the crowd through a megaphone. 'All human beings have the right to be free from violence.' Arnold's comments touched a nerve with the crowd, whose ranks included mostly women but a number of men and children as well. Prior to the march they gathered at Pioneer Square, lighting candles and picking up enlarged photos of local murder victims. The photos, of Raylene Grant and Natasha Moar, served as a sombre reminder of the dangers women continue to face in today's society. Grant was found murdered in a Flin Flon hotel room last year, while Moar, a former Flin Flonner, was killed in Crane River, Manitoba, in 2009. In both cases, men known to the victims have been charged. In addressing the crowd, a well-bundled Arnold summed up the purpose of the march. 'We walk for our sisters, daughters, nieces, mothers and ourselves,' she said. 'We walk for a community free from the threat of violence, rape and murder.' Arnold, the executive director of the Women's Resource Centre, encouraged marchers to 'make a racket' to 'smash the silence' around their common cause. 'Our walk is for all who have been hurt. Our walk is for healing, for strength, for unity,' she said. With that, the marchers proceeded south down Main Street, an RCMP cruiser leading them under the glow of light posts and retail signs. In unison they read out chants such as 'Women united will never be defeated' and 'Women unite, take back the night' _ their breath visible in the chilly winter air. The march made a left turn onto Angel Avenue, the former section of Third Avenue renamed in honour of victims of domestic violence. The march concluded back at Pioneer Square, where a poignant moment came courtesy of Bev Jackson, the aunt of Raylene Grant. Let hatred go Jackson appealed to those in the crowd to let go of the hatred they may feel toward the perpetrators of violence against women. 'Hatred is just as wrong as the crimes that these people committed,' she said, also speaking through a megaphone. 'Bitterness is a non-productive, toxic emotion.' While events like Take Back the Night will not by themselves end violence against women, Arnold believes every bit of awareness helps. The march came a day after the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It was also part of the Women's Resource Centre's events marking Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Take Back the Night, a movement with marches held across the globe, was sparked by the death of Susan Speeth, a Philadelphia woman who was attacked by a stranger as she walked back from work at night.
