A fire truck drove in Monday’s Choose Respect march in Craig. (Courtesy of Pat Boyd)
A couple dozen residents marched and drove through the Prince of Wales Island community of Craig on Monday in a demonstration against domestic violence and sexual assault. The parade came in the runup to a statewide virtual rally scheduled for Thursday.
Prince of Wales Island residents carried signs spelling out “respect” as drivers honked their horns and emergency vehicles sounded their sirens as part of a parade in support of survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Pat Boyd organized the Choose Respect Parade — she sent video clips of the march in to KRBD. She’s with HOPE, a Craig-based domestic violence support organization.
Boyd says sexual assault and domestic violence are very real problems, including on Prince of Wales Island.
“We have served 69 survivors of domestic violence throughout 2020 and four sexual assault survivors,” Boyd said in a phone interview.
She says she was glad to see community members — including Craig’s mayor — come out in support.
“It meant to me that people are listening, people care and people really, really want to end the domestic violence and sexual assault that occurs in our community,” Boyd said.
She says the Choose Respect march continues a campaign started by former Gov. Sean Parnell. Anti-domestic violence advocates from around the state plan to hold a virtual rally at 2 p.m. Thursday with speakers, panel discussions and Q&A sessions.
The statewide virtual rally, entitled “Alaskans Choose Respect: A Community Conversation” runs from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday over Zoom. There’s more information, including a link to the Zoom session, at tinyurl.com/AlaskansChooseRespect.
