This week is global Week Without Violence and the YWCA Lethbridge and District is focusing on raising awareness and elevating the voices of survivors of domestic violence.
This year the theme is transit and public transportation safety and the YWCA aims to educate the community, empower people to advocate for a violence-free community and raise awareness of resources in the community.
The annual Take Back the Night Advocacy Walk is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Oct. 20.
“The purpose of the walk is just to show advocacy — we walk from city hall all through downtown. It is dark, it is October and it’s six o’clock so we go through downtown, we have some solidarity together just showing women should be able to walk freely downtown without feeling unsafe and that there is power in numbers as far as going around through the community,” said Cat Champagne, director of external relations for the YWCA said.
There will be a downtown street art event on Tuesday where participants are welcomed to use sidewalk chalk to show what the week means to them. Bootsma Bakery has created special cookies for the event and proceeds will go to the YWCA.
The YWCA has also partnered with the city, The Watch and Paladin Security to host an event showcasing what efforts have been made to ensure safety at the Park n’ Ride facility and on transit. That will be at 11 a.m. on Oct. 16.