Statement RE: Assault at TBTN 2023

Dur­ing Take Back the Night (TBTN) last night, our friend Jele­na of SWAP Hamil­ton was assault­ed dur­ing the march against sex­u­al vio­lence. At SACHA we know that because vio­lence is con­tin­gent on pow­er and con­trol, there is an inher­ent rela­tion­ship between end­ing sex­u­al vio­lence and end­ing all forms of vio­lence. This includes vio­lence against sex work­ers, trans folks, and women in our com­mu­ni­ties. We, along­side the com­mu­ni­ty, have marched at TBTN in Hamil­ton for 42 years, not only to raise aware­ness about how unsafe streets are for so many in our com­mu­ni­ties, but to resist, to mobi­lize and to fight for spaces where we can be safer and thrive. We are pow­er­ful togeth­er but we need every­one in com­mu­ni­ty to show up for each oth­er and keep each oth­er safe. 

What hap­pened last night is unac­cept­able and shows that so much work still needs to be done but we won’t stop until every­one is safe. We thank com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers who showed up last night, spo­ken out against this ter­ri­ble assault, and have checked in. 

For those who need sup­port or would like to process events that have occurred dur­ing TBTN, our cri­sis line is avail­able at (905) 525‑4162

You are NOT alone.

We Believe Survivors. 

Sol­i­dar­i­ty and Love from your friends at SACHA