The third women’s march in Kamloops will once again take to the streets to spread the message of inclusion and equality.

It happens this Saturday, January 19, in front of the Sandman Centre, and will see local speakers talking about the work they do with women in the community.

“Here in Kamloops, I think there is a bit of a misconception that women are equal to men,”: said co-ordinator Alix Dolson. “Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”

“I work with women fleeing violence and who have experienced sexual assault but there is more to it than that. It really is a societal issue and it’s rooted in how we gender people, how we raise our children and how to condition people to believe one thing about themselves, and that’s the only role they can take on.”

She notes a lot of the work they try to do has stayed the same, but they’ve made an effort to be more inclusive and diverse.

“I think there are definitely changes happening,” she added. “I don’t know if it’s reached the ground level yet and if it’s making a huge difference in the lives on individual women.”

“But I see us talking about it more, things like the Time’s Up Movement and Me Too. I think it’s become a more prevalent conversation in a lot of households, and that’s a really important step.”

Dolson says one in three Canadian women will face some kind of sexual violence in their lifetime.

“That’s a horrific number, and I think that a lot of people don’t fully understand what that means,” she noted. “It’s not to say that men don’t face violence because they absolutely do, but the rate at which women face violence is much higher.”

“That’s something we are concerned about and want to try and combat that.”

Last year, the Kamloops march saw about 200 people. Organizers are hoping for a larger turnout this year.