SafeWalk pairs racialized women with volunteer to help them feel safe in northeast Edmonton
Posted June 19, 2022 4:01 pm.
Last Updated June 21, 2022 1:24 pm.
It can be a daunting task for many women to go out and feel comfortable doing tasks outside their home.
And for those who do feel intimidated, a new program has launched.
SafeWalk couples Muslim, Black, and racialized women with a volunteer ‘buddy.’
Two organizations – Sisters Dialogue and the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) – came up with the pilot program for women living in northeast Edmonton.
It comes after numerous reports of verbal and physical attacks against Muslim women in recent years in Edmonton.
“We want to create a safe space, so people feel safe in their neighbourhoods,” said Asha Yassin, the program coordinator with Sisters Dialogue. “We don’t want Muslim women or really any woman feeling as unsafe as we have been feeling – especially the visually Muslim, racialized and Black women.”
Yassin says this initiative is close to her heart because she too has experienced racism in Edmonton.
“I encountered an incident not too long ago where I was threatened and another time where I was followed, and obviously you don’t feel safe in a situation like that,” she said.
WATCH: Muslim community rallies for change (June 26, 2021)
Edmonton has seen various assaults on Muslim women in the past few years.
A man was charged after an alleged attack on a Muslim woman near a mosque in Edmonton in January. The man reportedly spat on the woman’s car window, punched it several times, uttered threats and damaged mosque property.
Other attacks in Edmonton over the past two years include a vicious assault on a mother and daughter in a mall parking lot, an encounter in which a man threatened to tear off a woman’s burqa and kill her, and an attack by a masked man wielding a knife at two sisters in their 20s wearing hijabs.
Now with SafeWalk, women have the option to venture out together. There are already 10 volunteers signed up.
“It’s amazing to get to know people that you live around,” said volunteer Kedijah Al-Beiyati. “Whatever your religion or culture or colour, what we want is to make them feel that we are looking out for everyone.”
All volunteers go through training and criminal record checks.
The city gave a $35,000 grant to cover the initiatives costs.
RELATED:
- Feds host Islamophobia summit after series of deadly attacks across Canada
- Hate crimes in Canada up dramatically: Stats Can
For now, this program is exclusive to northeast Edmonton but could expand in the future.
They are currently accepting volunteer applications.
“We would love to have more volunteers and support our Muslim women and all women in our city,” said Yassin.
—With files from The Canadian Press.
