Midori Ishizuka ’11, the founder of Andover Sexual and Domestic Violence Awareness, along with MJ Engel ’13 and Adrienne Pisch ’13 participated in the eighth annual Brides’ March in Southern Lawrence, this past Saturday, September 26. The march took place in silence in order to denounce domestic violence and spread awareness of domestic violence. This event is held annually in memory of Gladys Ricart, who was murdered on her wedding day by her ex-boyfriend. Mary McAlary, President of Delamano Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to domestic violence intervention that sponsored this event, estimated that over 100 people participated in the march. Ishizuka, along with Engel and Pisch, had the honor of holding the main banner and leading the march. Ishizuka wrote in an email, “It was a silent march and we still made such a statement. It was so inspiring to see some people jump out of their cars to join the walk, but it was difficult to receive some negative feedback from a few people on the streets,” she added. Pisch said, “You could see the support from people. A group of women got out of their car and joined us on the march. You could also see people sitting on their porches with expressionless faces, and I think that impacted me a lot.” “It seemed like maybe they do live with this [issue] and that this walk is having an impact on them as well, because it’s all about getting out in the community and trying to do something and trying to let people know there’s a way out of [domestic violence],” she continued. Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, the Mayor of Lawrence, and other Massachusetts House Representatives marched with the crowd. Tsongas gave a speech at a candlelit vigil at the Lawrence Senior Center about the issues of sexual and domestic violence to commemorate those who lost their lives to domestic violence this year. In her speech, Tsongas expressed her gratitude towards the people who took part of the march. McAlary said, “I would say that it was a tremendous success. It was a very moving ceremony.” “We light a candle for every one of the victims that had died since the last walk, to mourn those that had been lost, and to bring awareness so that other women and other abuse victims will no longer have to go through all of this,” she said. Women were asked to dress in white or in wedding dresses and men were asked to dress in black. “The wedding gowns symbolize the bride starting out with a new life and her hope and her joy,” said McAlary. She said that the men’s black attire represent the mourning of victims of domestic violence. Engel said, “It was supposed to be a march of silence but this one moment, we passed a woman who said, ‘Oh, domestic violence, what can you do about it? Nothing.” “It was just things like that that made me mad and even more committed to the cause to try to prove her wrong,” she said. Engel said that she felt that march held relevance to individuals who currently experience domestic violence. “I think that this march gave [subjected individuals] the power to do something about the violence because a lot of people are too scared to ever go to the authorities,” she said. “[The march] gave those women a voice or a way to show that they were finally standing up to the violence,” Engel continued.
