Recent violence fresh in mind as annual campaign begins

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This article was published 01/11/2019 (2137 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IN the wake of violence toward children that horrified Manitobans and made national headlines, 70 people took to the streets of Winnipeg for the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

“There has been a lot of violence going on in the past week,” said Dana Riccio-Arabe, executive director of Wahbung Abinoonjiiag on Dufferin Avenue, which organized the third annual awareness walk Friday night.

A 14-year-old girl, Jakira Eastman-Moore, was stabbed to death at a house party in Tyndall Park last Saturday. Someone barged into a North End home and fired a shotgun at least once — injuring four people, including an infant — last Sunday. Three-year-old Hunter Haze Straight-Smith was critically injured in an attack overnight Wednesday.

“We have a responsibility to work together to have a safe community,” Riccio-Arabe told the walk participants. “Our centre is based on empowering children and families and ending the cycle of violence. We envision a community where children grow up violence-free.”

Many attending the nighttime march take part in programs at Wahbung Abinoonjiiag, which means “children of tomorrow.”

A 26-year-old woman named Sarah — who recently left an abusive relationship and didn’t want her last name published — said she’d never demonstrated for any cause until domestic violence entered her life. “I’m here to raise awareness,” she said, before heading along Dufferin Avenue toward Salter Street during the police-escorted walk.

Hollie Patchinose, 49, found out about the march while at Wahbung Abinoonjiiag, where she goes for holistic healing through culturally appropriate teachings and activities in a safe, nurturing place.

She said she’s experienced domestic violence her whole life.

“We thought it was normal,” said her friend, Stephanie Guimond, who, like Patchinose, is intent on breaking the cycle of violence. The women, who are both mothers, said it is hard to get free of abusive relationships and rebuild lives.

“You come here, and you’re not alone,” Patchinose said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca