Hosted by the Nanaimo Haven Society, the Take Back the Night march to bring awareness to all forms of sexual violence takes place on Wednesday, April 2 from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m., starting in the parking lot of the Beban Park Social Centre. (submitted)

By Jordan Davidson

stop sexual violence

Take Back the Night Nanaimo raising awareness about all forms of sexual violence

Apr 2, 2025 | 5:24 AM

NANAIMO — One of the oldest movements to stand against sexual violence worldwide is returning to the mid-Island.

Take Back the Night events and marches have happened across the world for over 60 years, with a march happening in Nanaimo on Wednesday, April 2 for the first time in a number of years.

Hosted by the Haven Society Nanaimo, executive director Daylene Jones said it’s a movement to raise awareness about sexual violence in all forms, including trafficking, gender harassment and relationship violence.

“Sexual assault is considered a gender-based crime because 89 per cent of victims are women, girls, and gender-diverse people, whereas 97 per cent of the accused perpetrators are men and boys. But that doesn’t mean that men aren’t also victims and our community-based victim services does also support men.”

The Nanaimo Take Back the Night march starts at 5:00 p.m. in the parking lot outside the Beban Park Social Centre (2300 Bowen Rd.) with participants walking to the Haven Society’s Community Services building at 2270 Labieux Rd. by 7:00 p.m.

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Light refreshments will be served in the Haven Society’s parking lot, and guest speakers will provide important information and resources on sexual violence.

Participants in Take Back the Night are encouraged to wear purple. (submitted)

“Anyone can participate, people of all genders who want to take a stand against sexual violence are welcome to come and participate,” said Jones. “You can make some signs if you want to hold signs, we’ll have some things you can say in the march, we’ll have somebody leading that part of the march, or you can just walk with us.”

Those with mobility issues who still want to participate can go straight to the Haven Society’s parking lot.

Jones said they’re working with other local groups to spread the word about the march and resources available locally, including the Nanaimo Family Life Association, Cedar Women’s House, and Vancouver Island Crisis Care.

“One of the best ways that prevention happens is by educating youth about consent and what violence looks like in all of its forms, what resources there are out there, and that’s another thing that we hope to share with people, is the resources that exist in our community.”

She said bringing awareness to these issues is important in preventing more sexual violence in the future, with fewer than 6 per cent of sexual assaults reported to the police, and of those, only one in nineteen cases lead to jail time for the accused, according to Statistics Canada.

Jones said it’s difficult to have clear statistics on how many people are impacted by sexual violence as so many incidents go unreported.

“It is difficult to have clear statistics on how many people are impacted, but it’s estimated that from self-reports that one in three women have experienced unwanted sexual behaviour in public and one in four in their workplace, and there are certain demographics that definitely experience higher rates of sexual violence, including the LGBTQ2S+ community, Indigenous women and girls, and people with disabilities.”

More information on the nanaimo Take Back the Night event can be found here at the Haven Society’s website.

(submitted)

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