Youth volunteers launch safe walking program after recent stalking, racist incidents

A non-profit organizationled by a group of youth volunteers in Vancouveris stepping up tohelp women and seniors feel safer in their communitiesafterthe recent increase ofanti-Asian hate crimes and reports of alleged stalking incidents.

Through the Bolt Safety Society's new Safe Buddies program, individualswho don't feel safe walking home alone are matched with a volunteer to walk or stay on the phone with them.

"Just one person being unsafe should be reason enough for a unified effort at thecommunity level to improve safety," Bolt Safety Society executive director Vedanshi Vala said on CBC's On the Coast.

"But therecent reports ... [are]representative of the lack of safety in our communities at this very time."

Vancouver police have saidanti-Asian hate crimes jumped by more than 700 per cent in 2020 as reports of incidents wentfrom 12 in 2019 to 98 in 2020.

And last month, a woman was stalked by a suspicious manfor 40 minutes near Chinatown.

Seniors aged60 and over, women and non-binary people can request a safe buddy through the organization's websiteup to two hours before they need a volunteer.

Vala said all volunteers have been trained and will meet the individual at the requested time to either walk them to their final destination in Metro Vancouver, or be on the phone with them.

"If they know they get off work at 6 o'clock ... around 4 p.m. they would go to our website and fill in the form to request a safe buddy," Vala said.

She said the program, which was launchedMonday, has 12 volunteers who are ready to help.

"Our first shift is 3 to 5 p.m., our second shift is from 5 to 7 p.m. and hopefully we can expand our service hours as we get more volunteers and more capacity to do so."

LISTEN | Listen to Vedanshi Vala speak about the Safe Buddies program on On The Coast: