‘Everyone should feel safe.’ Yellowknifers take back the night

“Whoever we are, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no! What do we want? Safe streets. When do we want them? Now!”

Yellowknifers chanted and held signs as they marched through the city’s downtown on Saturday night to reclaim the streets from gender-based violence.

“Everyone should feel safe no matter when they are out, no matter where they are, no matter what they’re doing,” Nancy MacNeill told the crowd gathered for the Take Back the Night event at Samba K’e Park ahead of the march.

“I want to draw special attention to some of the folks and some of the movements that we’ve seen here on our own streets, people who are fighting for housing, who really need a safe place to live, who need roofs over their heads and food in their stomachs,” she added.

“I want to draw attention to these folks because they are also victims of gender-based violence. We all can be. And these folks are particularly vulnerable and we need to move together as a community to make sure that these folks, come winter, have a warm place to sleep and the security and comfort of the community that we all know and love.”

Take Back the Night is a global movement that aims to raise awareness and protest gender-based violence, particularly sexual violence. Marches and events have been held annually around the world since the 1970s.

Saturday’s event in Yellowknife was organized by the NWT YWCA, Status of Women Council of the NWT, Yellowknife Women’s Society, Northern Mosaic Network and the Native Women’s Association of the NWT.

Following the march, people enjoyed hot beverages and food as they listened to speakers before the sun set.

Sabet Biscaye, director of gender equity with the NWT’s Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, said Take Back the Night brings awareness to the many forms of violence northerners can face including family and intimate partner violence; emotional, mental and economic abuse; lateral violence and cyber bullying.

“Until we break the silence and start talking about the abuse in its many forms, the violence will continue and those that experience abuse will continue to need our support,” she said, adding that for some people, violence has become normalized.

Biscaye highlighted efforts to combat violence in the NWT including federal funding that helps to support a men’s healing program among other projects, and the territory’s Gender-Based Violence Community Initiatives Fund. She said people need to be “creative and innovative and compassionate” when developing programs and services to address violence to ensure people get the support they need.

“Each person carries the impacts of violence, which perpetrates throughout one’s lives as well as leaving families struggling to deal with their losses and with communities trying to deal with the impacts as well,” she said.

“If you look carefully into the background of perpetrators, you will often find a history of trauma. This does not excuse the behaviour of perpetrators, and they also need our support so that they can become part of the solution.”

Garett Cochrane, Yellowknife’s deputy mayor, shared “disturbing statistics” about the high rates of sexual violence women, girls, trans and gender diverse people, and LGBTQIA+ people can face in Canada. He noted that people with multiple marginalized identities face higher rates of violence and can struggle to get the support they need.

“Frankly, this is all beyond acceptable and disgusting in our modern society,” he said.

“But through continued efforts by citizens with actions such as Take Back the Night, advocacies for the countless NGOs involved in this field who are also the organizers, and the will from decision makers and elected officials to tackle this on a policy level, we will continue to strive for the just society we all deserve to live our lives in.”

Other speakers at Saturday’s event included Saphire Mtongwiza, community outreach coordinator of the Status of Women Council of the NWT, and Ruth Mercredi, a traditional counsellor with Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation.

If you are experiencing violence and looking for help, there are supports available:

• Shelter from family violence 24/7 crisis line: 1-866-223-7774
• Aliston McAteer House (Yellowknife) crisis line: 867-873-8257 or toll free 1-866-223-7775
• Family Support Centre (Hay River): 867-874-3311 or toll free 1-833-372-3311
• Sutherland House (Fort Smith): 867-872-4133 or 1-877-872-5925
• Inuvik Transition House: 867-777-3877
• Aimayunga Women and Emergency Foster Care Shelter (Tuktoyaktuk): 867-877-2000
• YWCA legal advice program for people who have experienced physical or sexual violence: [email protected] or 867-765-8670