DEAD WOMEN - murdered by their husbands or boyfriends - make front page headlines. Burned, shot or dismembered, they're news. In recent months, a horrifying number of Ontario women were accorded this grim measure of posthumous fame. Women working to stop the violence, on the other hand, couldn't get into the headlines even if they put on a rubber suit like Stockwell Day and zoomed around on a jerkmobile watercraft.

In Toronto, women's activism exists under a dome of media silence. If you had only the newspapers and television to judge by, you would assume that the feminist movement is as cold in its grave as those victims who made the headlines.

Did you know, for example, that the year-long World March of Women - amazing local parades, marches, rallies, street theatre, art and forums involving tens of thousands of women from Algeria to Zambia - will climax on Oct. 15 with mass demonstrations in major world cities, including Ottawa and New York?

No, probably you hadn't heard. And the lack of coverage for local events turns out to be a miserably self-fulfilling prophecy. It's almost impossible to reach potential recruits when you are ignored by the media.

In the movement's early days, the sheer force of numbers who showed up for rallies lent energy and credibility to feminist demands. Now, activists find that their press releases are greeted with yawns and dismissal - the fight against violence is the same old, unchanging story. Ho hum.

But it's not ho-hum to a group of zestfully enthusiastic young women in Peel Region (yes, Toronto, there's feminist life in the 905!) who are organizing this year's Take Back the Night march.

I went out to visit them, at the Rape Crisis Centre's office in Mississauga, to hear about their plans. Their catchment area is huge; last year, Peel police investigated more than 350 reports of sexual assault. Nevertheless, in its six years of staging a Take Back the Night march, the group has struggled to break through the suburban silence.

``We're going out to high schools for the first time,'' said Sarah Trimble, a young activist who has just begun women's studies at York University. ``The girls say, `Oh my God' when they hear the statistics of rape.'' Trimble hopes to attract even more marchers with a display table at the Chapters book store in the Erin Mills Power Centre.

``With this march, we're trying to tell women they have a right to feel safe on the streets at any time, not just at night,'' said Pina Grosso, counselling co-ordinator for the Peel rape crisis centre. ``Our turnout was small last year - maybe 100 women - but there's a great sense of community and belonging. It's fun.''

This year, the organizing committee has jumped in size. Organizations from March of Dimes to Family Services and Peel Pride Youth are on board, and volunteers are working hard to to ensure a larger number of participants. (Children are welcome; child-care provided.) Marchers will gather for a rally Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at the YMCA, 325 Burnhamthorpe Rd. W. in Mississauga, and are encouraged to linger afterward for a coffee house evening of talk and entertainment.

``The march is a symbolic thing,'' said Kathryn Dominey, a mother of three small boys who has been active with the centre from its beginning. ``Every woman I know has a sense of anger at the injustice of violence. Why can't we or our children walk in safety?''

The suburbs, the women explained to me, are ``a comfort zone'' where people commute from work to their haven of peace and quiet, and like to stay put once they get there. Yet, from the old lakeshore communities in the south to the horse farms of Caledon, with all the suburban and immigrant enclaves in between, there is no greater guarantee of domestic peace in Peel than there is anywhere else. The region had 5,000 reported domestic assaults last year.

If you have urgently asked, ``What can I do?'' when you read of yet another horrific wife murder, here's an answer Get up, get out and join a Take Back the Night march. Take back your right to be outrageously up-front about your anger at violence. The marches are peaceful, welcoming and high-spirited, and you might discover a camaraderie you didn't know existed, a rush of exhilaration at feeling entitled to occupy and command a public space.

Lace on those sneakers and you'll also be sharing in the worldwide sweep of the Women's March, which, rather than being one monolithic event, is a free-form web of global happenings embracing traditional Take Back the Night marches, as well as some amazingly fresh and innovative ventures across Canada and the world that I intend to write about soon.

You can take back the night in Peel (905-273-3337), Halton (905-825-3622), Durham (905-725-2241), Toronto (416-597-1171) and London (519-439-0844). In other areas, inquire about marches from your local rape crisis centre. It's a way of telling the world that the women's movement is alive, that you support it, and that you insist on strong public and government measures against rape and domestic violence.

Michele Landsberg's column usually appears in The Star (Toronto) Saturday and Sunday. Her e-mail address is mlandsb@thestar.ca