Annual walk raises awareness on domestic abuse against women

The annual Voices Empower walk brought a crowd of purple to the Waterloo Public Square on Saturday.

The walk is organized by the Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region (WCSWR) every year in hopes to raise both money and awareness toward preventing women from dying at the hands of their intimate partner, also called femicide.

Participants in the walk gathered wearing their best purple in honour of women who have survived domestic abuse.

Jennifer Hutton is the CEO of WSCWR. She’s been organizing the walk since 2020 which initially began as a small group and grew as years passed.

“In the last couple of years, we've walked as a big group and we have over 200 walkers this year,” said Hutton. “So, we’re really excited.”

Participants of the walk paid a registration fee of six dollars. Money raised by registering and merch sales goes towards funding safe shelter outreach services and prevention work through crisis services.

“I think it's super important for us as a community to come together,” said Sarah Robertson, a survivor and participant in Saturday’s event. “I mean, you look around and you see this many people and you realize how supportive and how important it is to so many people.”

The number six is used for not only the registration fee but also for the number of kilometres walked on the route. None of this is a coincidence.

“The reason why it's six kilometers is symbolic because sadly every six days in Canada, a woman is killed by their intimate partner,” said Hutton.

According to the WSCWR website, there were 187 femicides in Canada in 2023. This is three up from the year prior. Thirty-two femicides have taken place in Ontario alone in the first six months of 2024.