On June 20, 2013, Joachim Ostertag started his Change the Cycle Tour – Ending Violence Against Women, from Owen Sound to Vancouver.
This bicycle project was intended to raise awareness on violence against women and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada, and attracted media attention here in Grey Bruce and across the country.
Ten years later Change the Cycle 2023 invites the community to reflect on changes we have experienced and observed since then.
On Wednesday, June 28, the Change the Cycle 2023 – Ending Gender Based Violence bicycle ride will take place in Owen Sound.
It will start at 5:30 pm in front of city hall, lead slowly through the city to Giche Name Wiikwedong Reconciliation Garden at Nawash, and then to the Harmony Centre at 890 4th Street East, for community conversations. There also will be pizza and refreshments.
The Community Conversation will bring us together to reflect and speak about our roles and actions to end all forms of gender based violence, including intimate partner violence, sexual abuse, violence against 2SLGBTQ, Missing and Murdered Women and all racialized violence against women.
“One concern I always had, is that gender based violence is all around us, in our homes, at the office, at the military, the RCMP, the church, organized sport etc. and it affects all of us, one way or another, but we continue to portray it as if each of these are separate issues”, Joachim said, ”and I want to connect the dots. The tour and the stories I heard gave me a glimpse into the many intersects of gender based violence."
In 2013 the Change the Cycle Tour included visits to major centres between here and Vancouver and particularly the Highway of Tears between Prince George and Prince Rupert BC, the notorious 800 km stretch where many Indigenous women and girls continue to get murdered and go missing.
The tour allowed him to meet many people and organizations on the way who shared their thoughts and concerns with him, and he continues to think and speak about what he heard.
In Serpent River, he was told by an Indigenous man that almost every family is affected by Missing and Murdered Women; in the prairies women talked about not having been allowed to speak their mind for a long time; in Saskatchewan an Indigenous woman who had escaped the mass murderer Robert Pickton said girls continue to be preyed upon and sent into sex trade, and that men need to learn that women are not things; a young man in Prince George spoke of the sexual violence in language where men would say “I raped the exam and I never learned that women have needs as well."
When Joachim sat at the Bulkley River in BC next to an Indigenous man who stated with a mournful and scared undertone: "the girls are still hitchhiking".
People across the county also talked about solutions: better gender education at school, more caring of our children, critical thinking, more inclusive gender education, attention to boys emotional needs, and a positive focus on commonalities.
“When I rode through the country, and to this day, I wonder how the people I connected with are doing. I think about our culture that tolerates systemic violence”, said Joachim, “and most importantly, what are men and communities willing and committed to do to be the change we want to see in the world. Coming together to talk and think about action is a good start, and that’s what Change the Cycle 2023 is all about."
The plan for June 28:
5:30 p.m.: Bike Ride starts at Owen Sound City Hall (cyclists please bring helmets), continues to Giche Name Wiikwedong Reconciliation Garden and back to the Harmony Centre.
6:30 p.m.: Community Conversation with Bike Riders and others starts at the Harmony Center, 890 4th Street East with pizza and refreshments
7:30 p.m.: Wrap Up: Final thoughts and actions
