'I don't feel safe': Edmonton SafeWalk program hopes to expand to other parts of the city
A northeast Edmonton program helping women feel more secure while walking hopes to expand to other neighbourhoods in the city.
Edmonton SafeWalk is a pilot program launched this summer in response to the rising number of Muslim women being attacked.
“A lot of people might think that we don’t hear of Muslim women being attacked and that the issue is gone, but it’s not,” said Wati Rahmat, the founder of Sisters Dialogue.
“Muslim women, especially our Black Muslim women, are still being harassed and attacked and facing discrimination and hate,” she added.
Incidents that have left many women feeling anxious or afraid to go out alone for something as simple as a walk through the neighbourhood alone.
The Safewalk program allows women to go online to request a walk with a trained volunteer.
“They go through anti-oppression and some cultural sensitivity training and then a criminal record check,” said Leslee Mackey, Program Coordinator with the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues.
“We’ve had 43 total reach out, some of them just to say if this program ever comes to my neighbourhood, let me know. So far, 18 have completed the volunteer training and police checks,” Mackey added.
But since starting the pilot, only seven walks have been done through the program, many of them group walks through the river valley.
“In terms of women who want to walk right in the northeast where the pilot is, is where we’re seeing less than we had originally hoped,” Mackey said.
“Really, we’re reaching out to the most vulnerable of women who are isolated and afraid to go out, so there was a bit of learning in terms of building trust,” Rahmat said.
In order to build that trust, Safewalk volunteers started hosting a weekly playground program.
“Bringing out families, women and their kids, in a culturally sensitive programming like this where we bring Halal food so women feel comfortable to come and food that they’re familiar with,” said Rahmat.
There are also games and activities for the kids. Officials said it’s an environment they hope women not only feel safe but can connect.
“It’s more than just about the safety of Muslim women, it’s about the ripple effect in the community in creating conversations, in creating connections,” Rahmat said.
“There’s a layer of connection and relationship building that might need to happen prior to women feeling comfortable signing up to go on a safewalk,” Mackey added.
Alia Hanena brings her daughter to the playground program. A place both of them have made new friends.
“Even the kids, now they know me,” she said. “As soon as they see us coming they just run, ‘Hi, do you know me?’ she laughed. “It was nice.”
She drives to northeast Edmonton from downtown just to take part.
“To be honest, I don’t feel safe and I hope that the program will be expand to there. I never get chance to go walk by myself,” Hanena said.
The EFCL said it’s heard loud and clear from residents who want the Safewalk program to expand to other parts of the city.
“So if it happens that there’s a volunteer from the same neighbourhood that someone’s reaching out from we’re just now at the capacity to try and be able to set that up,” Mackey said.
She said several community leagues have also expressed interest in the program.
“They’d like to explore getting their own funding and piloting a model in their neighbourhood,” Mackey said.
“It creates the network where eventually that’s our hope where we can create networks where neighbours can keep each other safe,” Rahmat said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.
BREAKING Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
ArriveCan contractor to be admonished by MPs in extraordinarily rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archeological site in southwest France.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s sons have released a single together
A new Lennon and McCartney collaboration is the last thing anybody expected.