Billboard warns against hitch hiking along Highway 16 in northern BC, also known as the “Highway of Tears” for the high number of missing/murdered women.
By ROB SHAW, Vancouver Sun,
Every year, people in Fort St John march through the streets and remember missing and murdered loved ones. (Fort St John Sisters in Spirit/Facebook)
MLA condemns tragedy, says violence not specific to his region or to indigenous women
By Betsy Trumpener, CBC News, Oct 21, 2015
Amnesty International Canada is wrapping up a human rights investigation in northeastern B.C. and the human rights group says it’s alarmed by violence against aboriginal women amidst industrial development in the region.
Investigators just wrapped up a fact finding mission in Fort St. John on Friday. Amnesty women’s rights campaigner Jacqueline Hansen — who is based in Ottawa — has been meeting with as many people as she can. Read the rest of this entry
Roxanne Marie Isadore.
New CBC database highlights some patterns behind violence
By Connie Walker, CBC News, April 10, 2015
Roxanne Isadore was already a survivor by the time she reached her sixth birthday.
“She used to scream at night … ‘That guy is after me.'” Her grandmother Angeline recalls how the sexual abuse Roxanne experienced as a child haunted her for years.
As she got older, she continued to struggle. There were suicide attempts, addictions. And when she was 24, she disappeared. Read the rest of this entry
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson, photo by CBC News.
by Jorge Barrera, APTN National News>, April 9, 2015
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson says Indigenous perpetrators are responsible for 70 per cent of the solved murders of Indigenous women, according to a letter distributed to various media outlets by Status of Women Minister Kellie Leitch’s office.
The letter represents a substantial shift from the RCMP which has previously stated, because of its “bias-free policing policy,” it would not be revealing data on the ethnicity of perpetrators from its project on murdered and missing Indigenous women. Read the rest of this entry
CBC probes 230 unsolved cases, interviews 110 families
CBC News, April 8, 2015
Police departments across Canada get a failing grade for their efforts at solving cases of missing and murdered indigenous women, according to CBC interviews with more than 110 family members.
CBC News has embarked on an exhaustive search for families who have lost a relative either to an unsolved killing or whose loved one still remains missing.
So far, more than 110 families have responded to questions ranging from the efficacy of police investigations to the need for a national inquiry.
Families were asked to rate the quality of the police investigation in each case, on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being excellent. The average rating was 2.8. Read the rest of this entry
CP train blocked in Toronto, March 12, 2014.
Organizers say not enough men showing support
By Ryan Pilon, CBC News, April 7, 2015
Lani Elliott was 21 years old when she survived a vicious attack by her husband, who beat her with a baseball bat and broke her leg.
Elliott is now telling her story to First Nations and in schools, raising awareness of how often domestic abuse plays a role in the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women.
According to a report released by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police last year entitled “Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Review”, 92 per cent of the women knew their attackers: Read the rest of this entry
A photo of Annie Yassie from Manitoba’s Project Disappear database. The 13-year-old girl had just returned home to Churchill, Man., from residential school when she disappeared on June 22, 1974. (RCMP)
Northern community’s murdered, missing women and girls remain unnoticed
By Donna Carreiro, CBC News, April 7, 2015
It’s been 45 years since Ila Oman was murdered in the Dene Village outside Churchill, Man. But to this day, no one knows who sexually assaulted her. No one knows who physically attacked her. And no one knows which came first.
In fact, few people know Ila Oman even existed, let alone died a brutal death.
“It was like no one really cared. It was like this was almost normal,” recalled Nancy Powderhorn, who was a child at the time of the incident. Read the rest of this entry
On October 28, 2014, hundreds of Porgerans marched onto Barrick Gold’s Porgera mine site to demand benefits that rightfully belong to the Porgera Special Mining Lease (SML) Landowners.
Watchdog reported pattern of extreme sexual violence by security workers; 11 tribal women said a previous ‘remedy framework’ for 137 women fell short
By Andree Lau, The Huffington Post Alberta, March 30, 2015
Maroussia McRae (left) and Bridget Perrier spoke about their experiences at a public awareness forum Thursday. Photo by Mike Deal.
Take away demand for what they’re selling, survivors tell forum
It’s time to go after the criminals who sexually exploit our children, a packed forum of more than 250 people heard Thursday.
In order to put sex traffickers out of business, you need to put an end to the demand for what they’re selling, survivors told the sixth annual All Children Matter forum, hosted by the Winnipeg Sexually Exploited Youth Community Coalition.
Society has to buck up and go after the buyers who want sex with kids, said two women who were sexually exploited in their youth and are now advocates and counsellors. Read the rest of this entry
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