Take Back the Night march returns to downtown Kitchener Sept. 17
Posted Sep 1, 2026 02:36:01 PM.
Survivors, advocates, and community members will come together to march against gender-based violence as the annual Take Back the Night rally returns to downtown Kitchener this month.
The Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region (SASCWR) is organizing the local march to raise awareness and show solidarity.
Communities have been hosting Take Back the Night marches for decades to take action against sexual violence and intimate partner violence.
The downtown march is planned for Sept. 17 and will begin at Gaukel Block, with the full event running from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The march itself is 30 minutes but there will also be speakers, community resource booths, and live music.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says approximately one in three Canadian women and one in 10 Canadian men experience sexual violence in their lifetime.
“In the 2025 crime statistics, the Waterloo Regional Police reported being involved in 577 sexual assault investigations,” said a release from SASCWR. “According to Statistics Canada, only 6 per cent of sexual assaults are reported to the police. Theoretically, that means that over 9,600 sexual assaults occurred in our community last year.”
The latest data from Statistics Canada indicates that sexual assaults are reported on average about 80 per cent less than other violent crimes, and only one in 19 police-reported cases leads to legal consequences for an offender.
Community outrage was sparked earlier this year over the acquittal of former Kitchener neurologist Jeffrey Sloka.
“The Sloka trial — one of the largest cases of its kind in Ontario’s history — caused overwhelming anger, grief, despair, confusion, and shock for survivors and the Waterloo Region community,” SASCWR wrote. “It also exemplified why so many survivors choose not to come forward.”
Sloka faced dozens of sexual assault allegations in a high-profile trial and the not guilty verdict is being appealed.
