Purple lights will shine on domestic violence throughout the UFVRD

Upper Fraser Valley

2023-09-28 13:11 PDT

File # 2023-Purple Light Night

The RCMP invite the public to join us and our community partners for the annual Purple Light Nights ceremony to mark October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

This community sponsored awareness campaign which originated in King county, Washington, in 2007, is launched with the annual illumination of purple light to raise awareness of intimate partner violence (IPV) and its effects on children and families.

Lighting Ceremonies:

Date: Sunday, October 1, 2023

• Time: 6:00PM
• Location: Memorial Park, 3 Ave., Hope

Date: Tuesday, October 3, 2023

• Time: 7:00PM
• Location: Chilliwack RCMP Detachment, 46326 Airport Road, Chilliwack

The month of October is a month of shining a light on intimate partner violence and sending the strong message that domestic violence has NO place in our community. The campaign honours those who lost their lives to domestic violence, supports survivors, and gives hope to those still living with abuse.

Domestic Violence is a social issue that can affect anyone regardless of their age, sexual orientation, economic background, or race. Says Corporal Carmen Kiener of the Chilliwack RCMP Domestic Violence Unit, It not only affects the victims, but also affects the children in the home, family members, and sometimes even pets. The purpose of the purple lights illuminating the RCMP Detachment this month is to bring community awareness to domestic violence and send the message that it has no place in our Community.

Life-sized silhouettes of women, men, and children who lost their lives in acts of domestic violence will be placed throughout the City of Chilliwack, District of Kent and the District of Hope. Each silhouette represents a woman, man or child who once lived, worked, raised children, and played amongst us. Because these women, men and children no longer have a voice, the silhouettes are called Silent Witnesses.

The Chilliwack RCMP responds to over 50,000 calls for services annually, almost 1400 of these reports are related to domestic violence. Even one incident of domestic violence is too many and we must work together to change this.

Information Booths will be set up at the following locations:

City of Chilliwack

• October 1st – Farmer’s Market, 9360 Mill St., 10AM to 2PM
• Oct 7th – Chief’s Hockey Game, Chilliwack Coliseum
• October 14th – Canadian Tire parking lot, 45495 Luckakuck Way, 11:00AM to 2:00PM

Activities

• BBQ (by donation)
• Face painting
• Live music

District of Kent

Month of October: Community Recreation and Cultural Centre, 6660 Pioneer Ave., Agassiz