Dozens gather for Domestic Violence and Homicide awareness walk

A few dozen people gathered in Red, Purple or Orange t-shirts as a walk to bring awareness towards domestic violence and domestic homicide took place in Saskatoon on Saturday.

The walk started at the Howard Coad school where drums could be heard as people began walking.

Andrea Naytowhow, Melissa Bear’s Aunt and Cathleen Balon, Nykera Brown’s Mother organized the walk and they said it was important to show each other support during these times.

“We joined forces because this crime is not race, it’s not sex,” said Balon. “We joined to show that we are together.”

“There’s not enough support systems within our reach,” said Naytowhow. “There’s too many things that are being .. pulled under the rug.”

Naytowhow said she hadn’t heard of a walk for domestic violence and homicide in Saskatoon for awhile.

“Today we’re here to break the silence, (and) to stop the violence within our community,” said Naytowhow.

Among those who were walking was Saskatoon’s Chief of Police Cam McBride.

Back when McBride was sworn in as the new Chief of Police he said he wanted to continue working with and building trust with the community.

McBride said that he will continue to come out and support these events.

“Working together with the community is the way of the future for policing,” said McBride.

This event was one that McBride and his staff looked at as a very important issue to get behind.

“Intimate partner violence is a significant issue in Saskatchewan,” said McBride. “It’s something that we really wish to address and we need to address together.”

The Saskatoon Police Service is working on addressing the issue as a new program was presented at the latest board of police commissioners meeting.

“That basically is a cooperative program that we will be implementing … to work together with mental health professionals,” said McBride.

McBride said this walk provided a great opportunity to talk to people and discuss some of their challenges.

“Having the ability to gain that first hand understanding from individuals who are living through those circumstances is so critical,” said McBride.

McBride also said there were some laughs that were shared throughout the walk.