In March of this year a woman walking in downtown Vancouver was being followed by a stranger. She felt scared and sought help from a group of people at a skatepark. In the same month another woman hiking on a Burnaby trail was followed, until she seeked refuge with a stranger. In April a woman was followed and harassed by someone outside of her apartment in Gastown.
Unfortunately, these types of incidents happen more often than are reported.
Here is a list of community groups and businesses that are helping to make our streets safer and provide support to those that need it in the Greater Vancouver area.
Mount Pleasant Safewalk
School Campus Safewalks
At many of our college and university campuses there are Safewalk Programs in place for students and visitors who are walking alone late at night or feel unsafe and need help. UBC, Capilano University, Langara College, and many more schools have these programs in place. If you are in these areas, make sure to look up the numbers to call on their websites, and save them to your phone.
Although some of the neighbourhood watch programs are not in full-force it is comforting to know that people are willing to come together to make our communities a safer place.
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