A Voice For Missing Women

A voice for missing women; Thursday ceremony spotlights hundreds of murdered natives
By Rachel Punch, The Sudbury Star

Savannah Trudeau often doesn't feel safe when she's alone and, as a young aboriginal woman, those feelings are justified.

Hundreds of First Nations women - including about 30 in Ontario - have been murdered or simply vanished in the last few decades.

It's a statistic Trudeau, a 20-year-old from Wikemikong, finds frightening.

"It makes me think I have to have somebody there beside me at all times in case something goes wrong," Trudeau said. "I kind of feel scared walking downtown, not just in Sudbury, but anywhere."

Trudeau was one of about 75 people who rallied Thursday afternoon at Memorial Park to raise awareness and remember women who have been murdered or gone missing.

"We're just here to represent our sisters who have gone missing. We're here in support," Trudeau said.

Marjorie Beaudry, a Laurentian University student, organized the event.

"It's to give our condolences to all the families that have lost a sister, mother, daughter or a friend. It's also to create awareness to other aboriginal young women to say 'Hey, there is danger out there so be aware and be careful.' "

The story of Robert Pickton, the mass murderer responsible for the deaths of several women who went missing in Vancouver, has raised awareness about the issue there. It's a problem not unique to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Beaudry said an estimated 500 First Nations women have been reported missing across Canada. Others have been brutally murdered.

Kelly Morrisseau, 27, was seven months pregnant when she was found naked and bloody in Gatineau Park in Ottawa in December 2006. The mother of three died in hospital. Diane Dobson, 36, was found dead in a ditch near Windsor in February 1995.