Disappointing behaviour
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Dear Editor,
One month ago, on Friday, September 18th, the town of Golden had its annual annual Take Back the Night March. By now, most members of this community are aware of what the march is about. For those who don’t, it is to raise awareness of the dangers women face when they are out alone at night. During the march we have a RCMP escort, chanting, and guest speakers who bravely get up in front of an audience and read poetry, speak about gender violence, and bring awareness to the fact that many women are continually experiencing violence.
We would like to believe parents in our community will bring forward some sort of discussion in their homes about this event, or at least make their teenage children aware that if they are downtown to respect what others are doing and simply mind their manners.
So it was a great disappointment when the march was over, some of us had to listen to a group of young men at the 7-11 tell us to “get the f#@! off of his street”, to “get our f@#&*%@ hands off the barricades” that we needed to move to return access to 7 St. , and finally to “get the f@*# out of his town”. Despite being told to calm down and that a police cruiser was just down the block, these young men did not stop yelling. Finally a male friend of ours stopped and got out of his vehicle to help us because he obviously also believed the situation was not safe, only then did the boys stop shouting. But no apology came forth.
It was disheartening that within minutes of marching and speaking out for safety in our community we did not feel safe, that within minutes of symbolically reclaiming the streets as women, we were made to feel unwelcome and threatened until a man joined us.
The story doesn’t end here because unfortunately violence against women persists in our community both within the private and public realms. Golden remains unsafe for many women.
We would like to remind women to take the necessary precautions to ensure that they are safe, aware and alert. We would also like to remind everyone in the community, not to naively believe a smaller community like ours is safer than a city. Times like these reiterate the need for Take Back the Night. “Until women’s shelters need not exist and hospital visits from sexual assault cease, we will continue to walk.”
Please, let’s look out for one another. Violence is the opposite of respect.
~Veronica Beauregard
and Linley McLean
Golden Women’s
Resource Centre
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