The Night Light Walk is a 3K walk through the streets of communities across Canada to raise funds for local intimate partner violence shelters.

Guelph’s event starts at 6:15 p.m. at Royal City Park South. Hear inspiring stories before walking a lantern-lit route led by our friends at Royal LePage Royal City Realty.

Support the G-W WIC team (WICedly Fierce and Fabulous) OR create your own! You can participate with a minimum donation of $50 (which provides you with a light-up toque, shoe lights and other goodies courtesy of the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation). You can also set a goal of $125 or more and then ask your network to sponsor you. Kids 10 and under register for $10!

Last year’s event raised over $30,000 and this year promises to be even greater. 

To learn more, visit: Guelph – Royal LePage Shelter Foundation Night Light Walk

And to donate to support our team, click here!

The post Night Light Walk 2026 first appeared on Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

Take Back the Night is a global rally and march held to reclaim the streets, raise awareness, and build solidarity against sexual violence.

Come raise your voice for change on Friday, September 18 at 6:45pm, at Bissell Park in Elora (119 Mill St E, Centre Wellington ON). Join us for $5 pizza, speakers and a march through the park. Share your poems, stories and songs as we open the event up for open mic!

All are welcome!

Stay up to date on the latest by following @gwwic on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky.

The post Take Back the Night Centre Wellington 2026! first appeared on Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

Sisters in Spirit vigils were started by the Native Women’s Association of Canada and held across the country as a way to hold space for families and communities to grieve and to call for justice for Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse folks.

We’ll gather at the Sacred Fire for speakers, drumming, art-making, and a candlelight walk through an installation of red dresses, symbolizing the absence of the people we’ve lost to violence.

All are welcome. Folks with hand drums are encouraged to bring them. Friends and family members are invited to bring photos and/or names to add to a memorial board if they wish.

Hosted by G-W Women in Crisis, Guelph Indigenous Community Council and Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team.

📆 October 4
⏰5-7:30pm
📍Sacred Fire, Royal City Park (south side of the river)

The post Sisters in Spirit first appeared on Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

We’re kicking things off at 6:30pm at Marianne’s Park (176 Gordon St.) with our annual rally and march against sexual violence. Then at 8pm, you can join us at Royal City Mission for a free and fiery concert with Olexa and headliners Bonnie Trash!

Check out our events page for more details. See you there!

The post Take Back the Night 2026! first appeared on Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

🗓 Saturday May 30
🕐Doors at 1pm
📍The Bookshelf Cinema (41 Quebec St., Guelph)
🎟 Tickets at the door by pay what you can donation (cash or tap)

We’re ending off Sexual Violence Prevention Month with a fierce feminist film whose critique of rape culture is still relevant today.

A wild ride, with one of the most famous endings in movie history. Come see it on the big screen and support survivors of sexual violence!

Have big fans of the film in your life? We’ll be raffling off the original release movie poster! Big thanks to The Bookshelf Cinema for donating it.

The post Join Us for a Film Screening! first appeared on Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

June 9 – Fergus – 479 Patrick St. West, Fergus, ON, N1M 1M2 

June 16 – Erin –10 Thompson Crescent, Erin, ON, N0B 1T0 

June 23 – Mount Forest – 102 Main St., Mount Forest, ON, N0G 2L0 

June 30 – Palmerston – 360 King St., Unit 3, Palmerston, ON, N0G 2P0 

To celebrate 40 years, we will be opening our doors to the public. Please join us and meet our staff, hear about our history and connect. Light refreshments will be provided. This is an in-person, indoor event. 

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact: 

Charlie Butler, Public Educator | 519-836-1110 ext. 234 | rural-aht@gwwomenincrisis.org 

The post Our Rural Women’s Support Program Is Turning 40! first appeared on Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

You are invited to join us on Wednesday May 13th at 7pm at Franchetto Park (24 Franchetto Boulevard, Guelph) for a candlelight vigil to honour Charlie Hesselink, who was killed by his father in an act of femicide in 2022.

We’ll gather at Charlie’s memorial tree along the pathway in Franchetto Park for brief remarks, some solidarity and a moment of silence to commemorate Charlie.

We hope this event gives folks an opportunity both to mourn the loss of a child to violence and to mark the day by taking action against violence in our community, whether they knew Charlie or not.

Masks are required for this event and will be provided. This is an outdoor event, so please be mindful of the weather.

For those who are unable to make it in person, the event will be livestreamed on the G-W Women in Crisis Facebook page.

If you can’t make the event but feel moved to take action and support survivors, you can consider donating to G-W Women in Crisis. A donation page has been set up in Charlie’s name to help the kids who come to stay at our intimate partner violence shelter, Marianne’s Place.

Donate in memory of Charlie Hesselink

We ask that people respect Charlie’s mother’s wishes and avoid attending if they attended Charlie’s father’s funeral.

Femicide and Familicide

You might be wondering why we use the term femicide in the context of Charlie’s death. The Gender-Based Violence Learning Network tells us that:

Femicide is the killing of women and girls because of their sex and gender. This term explicitly highlights the ways that women and girls are targeted due to gender oppression and marginalization.

They explain that in cases of femicide, collateral victims, of any gender, may be targeted:

Femicide may additionally include secondary or ‘collateral’ victims where further individuals of any gender are killed in addition to or instead of the women or girl. For instance, a son, new partner, or service provider.

Charlie’s death should also be considered in the context of familicide:

Familicide, also a gendered crime, has received minimal attention in comparison, particularly in Canada. Research demonstrates that familicide is almost exclusively perpetrated by males and typically involves the killing of two or more family members, often a current or former female partner and at least one biological child or stepchild (Familicide in Canada, 2010 to 2019).

It’s critical that we keep these contexts in mind as we reflect on Charlie’s death. This knowledge empowers us to understand and move towards dismantling the systems and structures that enabled his death and continue to enable violence against women, gender-diverse people and their children.

The post Memorial Vigil for Charlie Hesselink first appeared on Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

The exhibit will be on display at the Main Floor Gallery of 10C Shared Space (42 Carden St.) for the month of May. On May 1, we’ll be hosting an opening reception at the gallery from 3-5pm. There will be coffee and tea on hand, as well as some poetry performances. Please stop in!

Can’t make it to the event? You can come by and see the collection M-F 8:30am to 5:00pm until May 31. 

The post Celebrations of Survivorship 2026 first appeared on Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

The post 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence 2025 first appeared on Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.

Join Royal LePage Royal City Realty and G-W Women in Crisis for a magical 3km walk under the stars as we shine a light in the darkness for women and children impacted by intimate partner violence. 💜

On October 23rd, we walk together— in solidarity, in remembrance, and in hope for a safer and brighter future.

LIGHT THE WAY. Your donations will go to G-W WIC’s Transitional & Housing Support Program & Marianne’s Place shelter, which support survivors as they rebuild their lives.

Kick off at 6:15pm at Royal City Park (30 Albert St., Guelph). Walk begins at 7pm.

Learn more or register at nightlightwalk.ca

The post Night Light Walk 2025 first appeared on Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.