Take Back the Night
Annual Halifax March Affirms Women's Rights and That Women Are Not Fair Game
On the evening of Wednesday, November 26, people taking a stand to end violence against women took to the streets of Halifax for the annual Take Back the Night March. The march began at the Garrison Grounds and continued to Peace and Friendship Park. The march affirmed that no one should be left to fend for themselves, especially the most vulnerable women or those who have survived assault and sexual violence, and that women have the right to safety in their daily lives.
Speech of an Indigenous Woman at the March
As Indigenous women, we understand the importance of protecting our women and girls as well as non-Indigenous women and girls. Sexual violence is a devastatingly common and highly gendered crime, with one-third of Canadian women experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime. This issue goes hand-in-hand with other serious issues in our province. For example, Nova Scotia has the highest rates of intimate partner violence and human trafficking of any province in Canada. Women, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, make up 79 per cent of all intimate partner violence victims and 97 per cent of human trafficking victims.
An attack on one woman is an attack on all, and therefore we must fight for the safety and security of all women, and people of the world.
It is important to note that Indigenous women are disproportionately targeted by violence. Four in ten Indigenous women have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner and 55 per cent of Indigenous women have been harmed by non-intimate partners such as acquaintances, friends or strangers. Indigenous women are four times more likely to be victims of violence than other women.
This is due to colonial policies and structures including the Indian Act, the Sixties Scoop, residential schools and breaches of human and Indigenous rights that have led directly to the current increased rates of violence, death, and suicide in Indigenous populations.
As the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls stated, the link among cultural teachings, identity, and resilience was fractured through the process of colonization -- but not broken. The fact that ceremonies, teachings, and languages do survive today is a testament to those women, those cultural carriers who, along with male, female, and gender-diverse Elders, continue to carry the ancestors as a potential path forward toward healing and safety.
Take Back the Night affirms the right of women to say "No!" to anything interfering with their human person, whether by individuals or by the state through the implementation of laws which dictate what they can or cannot do or say. This incorporates the concept that if you have no right to say NO, then your YES means nothing. Together we need to ensure that every woman not only feels safe but IS safe from any danger or harm. We must collectively support women to participate fully in society without discrimination and without being treated as fair game by anyone.
Being a woman is more than just the ability to bring life into the world, but also the way you care for life already in this world -- whether by protecting and respecting our sisters, daughters, mothers, and friends, or how we take care of our mother earth, the animals, plants and water. We all have a moral obligation and sacred responsibility to break down systemic barriers, eliminate violence, and create safer spaces for Indigenous and non-Indigenous women and girls. Today, hand in hand, we march united with the spirits of our stolen sisters, our sisters who are survivors, and all our sisters and allies and say No More Stolen Sisters!
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This article was published in
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/ITN2024/Articles/TI54623.HTM
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