'Everyone deserves safety': Take Back The Night rally set to take over downtown Windsor

Windsor Morning10:09"Take Back The Night" event in Windsor

Erika Broadbent has her own lived experience around domestic violence.

One of the organizers for Windsor, Ont.'s Take Back The Night march, shesays she grew up in a family affected by it.

"Since I was a kid, this is something I've been very passionate about," she told CBC Radio's Windsor Morning host Amy Dodge.

"I will be an advocate as long as I possibly can. I believe that everybody deserves to be safe, regardless of your gender identity or your sexual orientation."

This year's walk in downtown Windsor startsat 7 p.m. Thursday at Charles Clark Square.

Launched back in 1976, Take Back The Night is the oldest worldwide movement to fight for change when it comes to sexual and domestic violence.

In 2023, Windsor City Council declared intimate partner violence to be an epidemic something the province of Ontario has not done.

"Everyone deserves safety, and we need a society that's going to champion that," Broadbent said. "There should not be a reason that we're okay with certain people being victimized just because of their sexuality or their gender identity."

Broadbent has gone to the past eight or nine local marches, she said, and has seen attendance grow from around 30 people to roughly 150 last year.

"Do I cry at the end of every single event? Yes, I do, because it is so moving," she said. "But it doesn't mean it's just an event for women. That's really shifted over the years, which honestly is very moving to me."

According to Broadbent, over the years it's moved to include trans and queer people and men.

"We can't have an event for this and make active change towards domestic, intimate partner and sexual violence unless we're including our full community, and that includes every gender identity," she said.

At last year's event, Broadbent said,organizers specifically cast a wider net and invited more community partners who have a hand in helping survivors who have experienced domestic or sexual violence.

And, she said, that means preparing everyone in attendance for the fact that some men will be taking part which could end up being triggering for others.

"In the beginning of the march or the beginning of the rally, we always start off by talking about that," she said. "Your presence here may be here as an ally, and we appreciate you being here as an ally because we need you here. But we also need you to understand what your presence can hold for other people that are here."

Broadbent said statistically men are often the ones perpetrating domestic, sexual and intimate partner violence so, it's important for them to be included to take a stand and have everyone's back and ensure they're going to be safe.

Lana Wells, an associate professor at the University of Calgary and a domestic violence researcher, previously told CBC News that men are predominantly behind intimate partner violence, and provincial strategies to end it must include supports for them.