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Despite the windy weather and threat of rain - a crowd did gather to participate in the annual march to end violence against women. The activity commemorates the sixteen days of activism against gender – based victims. 7News caught up with the parade as it made its way on Amara Avenue and spoke with the Director of Women’s Department Icilda Humes about the occasion.

Icilda Humes, Director - Women’s Department
“The purpose of the march is to bring awareness to the issues of gender based violence. A lot of times we hear gender based violence and think it is only domestic violence. We are also talking about sexual assaults, sexual exploitation of children, sexual exploitation of girls. As you can see the Youth Enhancement Services is a big part of this year’s march. They have the “My Future is not for Sale” campaign and so they are talking to young girls and they are speaking out and saying my future is not for sale; I want to succeed in life, I have high aspirations, and I will not be a victim. As you can see we have a lot of men in our march this year and it continues to grow every year. We have more schools participating this year and it is really telling us that more people are getting involved in the fight to end gender based violence in Belize.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
“Are you encouraged by the turnout despite the weather?”

Icilda Humes,
“Actually I am because we have a tendency in Belize that as soon as a few drops start to fall we run indoors but definitely we are seeing people getting committed. Most of them say they don’t care, they will come out because this is a cause that they believe in.”

This year’s parade was held under the theme: Commit Act Demand: We Can End Violence Against Women.