Northern Society for Domestic Peace will be hosting a lantern walk as a part of the Take Back the Night event.
The walk is a way to raise awareness for violence against women and girls.
According to Spokesperson Airika Owen, the lantern walk is an event to advocate for safety, inclusivity comfort within the community while also promoting the Sexual Assault Response Team which was launched this year.
The SAS team provides 24 hour crisis call out support for people who have experience sexual assault in the region.
She said that violence against women is an ongoing and historical issue.
“It’s an issue we see coming up time and time again, all of the time in the news, there are stories in the media currently surrounding violence against women and women’s rights so, it’s really an important thing to always have in mind that still in 2022 women are often fighting for equal rights,” Owen said.
According to Owen, Take Back the Night originally started in the United States as response after women were experiencing sexual violence in major cities.
She added that the event quickly grew to other countries.
Owen says the goal of the event is to be a learning opportunity about the violence that women face.
“We’re trying to make this a family friendly event. These topics aren’t easy to talk about, they’re not comfortable to talk about, they can be pretty intense so, we’re obviously trying to create advocacy and awareness from this event that is family friendly,” she said.
The walk will be held on October 15 at 7 p.m. where the public can gather at the Rotary park at Main Street and Highway 16.
From there a march will take place along Main Street.
NSDP is asking for anyone attending to bring or make their own lanterns but a lantern making kit can be picked up at the office on First Avenue.