FLOOD THE STREETS AND DEMAND SAFETY FOR WOMEN AND GIRL

 🚨ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: TIME TO FLOOD THE STREETS AND DEMAND SAFETY FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS🚨

By Zipolita aka Tina Winterlik

I am sickened. Enraged. Heartbroken.

A 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at knifepoint in broad daylight in Vancouver, and the man arrested was already on probation for another sexual assault. Let that sink in.
He was out. On the streets. Free.
And now a young girl has to carry that trauma for the rest of her life.

Where is the justice?
Where is the protection for women and girls?
Where is the outrage?

We used to march.
Women used to organize and walk at night to Take Back the Night. We knew the streets belonged to us too, and we weren't going to be afraid.
Now? The predators are let out over and over, and we’re told to stay vigilant, carry pepper spray (which is illegal here!), and avoid walking alone.

But when do they face consequences?

There have been a string of sexual assaults in Stanley Park and other parts of Vancouver lately, and it feels like no one in power is doing a damn thing.
We’re gaslit into thinking things are "mostly safe" — while women and girls are being hunted in public spaces.

I used to feel safe. I don’t anymore.
And I know I’m not alone.

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So here’s my call:
Let’s flood the streets again.
Let’s organize.
Let’s rise up like the women before us did.
Let’s TAKE BACK OUR CITY.

March. Scream. Hold signs. Demand change.
Because if we don’t, they will keep letting them out — and more girls, more women, more people will be hurt.

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DEMANDS TO START WITH:

• Mandatory psychological assessment reviews before parole for violent or sexual offenders
• Real consequences for breaching probation
• Transparency from the justice system about high-risk offenders in our communities
• Immediate public forums and safety plans from local government
• Restore and increase funding for women’s shelters, trauma support, and legal advocacy

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That young girl — she could have been any of us.
Any of our daughters, sisters, nieces, or friends.

This city has failed her.
Let’s make sure it doesn’t fail anyone else.

#TakeBackTheStreets
#JusticeForSurvivors
#NoMoreSilence
#VancouverSafetyNow

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The Elevator Stopped Again

 The Elevator Stopped Again

Something strange has been happening. Yesterday, the elevator stopped on the fifth floor—no one had pressed the button. A couple was with me, heading to the fourteenth floor, and the man looked uneasy. He stepped out and took the stairs instead. I just stood there, feeling something shift in the air. “Oh, who just got on? Hello…” I said, half-joking, half-curious.

This morning, it happened again. This time, on the fourth floor. The doors opened, but no one was there. The elevator just sat still until I pushed “Open” and used my fob again to restart it.

And then, just like that, a memory I hadn’t thought of in years rushed back—the police, the sirens, the news.

I have been in this building many times over the past twenty years. But today, for some reason—on the day of the Women’s Memorial March—I remembered Nicole.

Nicole Parisien was a young mother, just like I was at the time. Our children were the same age. She was kind, hardworking, and trying to build a better future. But in 2007, Gordon Campbell’s government had made survival nearly impossible for single mothers. Rent was high, daycare was expensive, and social assistance had been slashed. Women were being pushed into impossible choices.

Nicole was trying to make ends meet when she crossed paths with a man who had been on a three-day binge. He took her life in an act of senseless violence. Her body was found outside this very building. A neighbor saw. The police came. But it was too late.

It was heartbreaking then, and it’s heartbreaking now. But what’s worse is that people forget.

The policies that pushed Nicole into that desperate situation weren’t accidents. They were choices—government decisions that prioritized budget cuts over human lives. And those choices had consequences. Nicole should still be here.

So when the elevator stopped again today for no reason, when the memories hit me so vividly, I had to wonder:

Was it just coincidence? Or was Nicole reminding me—and all of us—not to forget?