This year's Take Back the Night in Sarnia will shine a light on abuse in sports.
Before the traditional march, there will be a condensed screening of the TSN-W5 documentary Broken: Inside the Toxic Culture of Canadian Gymnastics, which features three local survivors, at the Sarnia Library Theatre.
"We've all been hearing about Hockey Canada, locally Bluewater Gymnastics and other large-scale scandals and abuse in different sports," said Sexual Assault Survivors Centre (SASC) Public Education Coordinator Trish Vanoosterom. "So earlier this year, many elite athletes came together and they demanded a public inquiry into abuse in sports. So as an agency, we just felt it was crucial to shine a light on this issue and we just felt Take Back the Night would be a great avenue for that."
Vanoosterom said the event is free. Doors open at 5 p.m.
"Anyone is welcome, but just be aware that there is content in the documentary and discussion around sexual harm and emotional harm in the sport," said Vanoosterom. "So, it could be very heavy content."
Vanoosterom said after the documentary there will be a question and answer session with survivors Abby Spadafora, Melanie Hunt and Alheli Picazo, followed by a march through the downtown area.
"Take Back the Night is the oldest worldwide movement to stand up against sexual violence," she said. "It's been around since the 70s and we've been doing this for around 40 years at our agency. We have a march, it's not very long and anyone can join in. We have some signs and a banner and we just go down and march in the street."
One in three women worldwide experience some form of sexual violence or intimate partner violence.
