Walk takes aim at gender-based violence

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew joined dozens of community members in Brandon Thursday on a walk to raise awareness among men and boys about the need to take action to end gender-based violence.

The fourth annual Brandon walk was in honour of the Moose Hide Campaign, an Indigenous-led grassroots movement that started in British Columbia in 2011 and has since expanded to communities across Canada.

“This day of action for the Moose Hide Campaign is really important because men and boys have a responsibility to help what they see regarding violence among families and also to share a positive message,” Kinew said prior to the walk.

It was the first time Kinew took part in the Brandon walk, which began with an opening prayer by Frank Tacan, an elder from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.

“Our women are suffering due to violence — that needs to stop,” Tacan said to the group of people gathered at Princess Park.

Brandon’s Akicita Cante Waste, which translates to “Good-Hearted Warriors” — a men’s drumming group — led the walk down Princess Avenue to 18th Street and back onto Victoria Avenue, returning to the park on Ninth Street.

Jason Gobeil, who’s a member of the group, said the rhythmic sound of the drum reminds him of a heartbeat, and the first heartbeat people hear is from their mother.

“As we walk today, let’s think about those mothers. Let’s think about those families that have been disrupted by violence within their homes,” said Gobeil, who’s a member of Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek First Nation in Ontario.

He said taking action against gender-based violence is something that must happen collectively on a daily basis.

“Right now, we come together, we raise our voices, we put out some really good energy, but what happens tomorrow when everybody stops thinking about this?” Gobeil said.

“If we can start getting people’s minds shifted around how we need to start taking change today and every day, then we’re truly going to see the developments of change in our futures.”

The walk was hosted in partnership by Assiniboine College and the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples’ Council (BUAPC).

Christine Damphousse, the college’s administrative officer for community development, said it’s important to stand in solidarity with Indigenous-led initiatives and share resources to ensure women and children are safe from abuse.

“One of the things that has been the most powerful for me attending the walk is seeing everybody from all sorts of walks of life coming together,” Damphousse said.

“I think a lot of times when people hear about events going on, they may think ‘That has nothing to do with me’ … but when you start to have conversations with people who are touched by what this awareness raises, you realize that there are people much closer to you that are affected.”

She encourages people to get curious about movements aimed at educating the public and be brave enough to ask questions because it may benefit themselves or others in ways they weren’t initially aware of.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize that they’ve been in abusive situations sometimes until after the fact,” Damphousse said, adding that it’s important for people to have access to healing programs and supports.

BUAPC chair Jeanine Pelletier said she’s a survivor of intimate partner violence. “I was fortunate to be able to escape the situation, but it took a couple of years,” she said.

Indigenous women and girls are disproportionally affected by intimate partner violence, Pelletier said.

While Indigenous women make up about five per cent of all women in Canada, they accounted for 22 per cent of women killed by an intimate partner between 2019 and 2023, data from the federal government show.

“Not only is it for women and children today that matters, it matters for all the little boys that have seen the abuse in the home,” she said.

In the wake of BUAPC losing its federal funding in March, Pelletier said she would like to see more money dedicated to programming for spousal and family abuse to provide opportunities for healing and education.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com, with files from Alex Lambert