No more stolen sisters: missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirits vigil

She spoke because there are thousands who cannot.

She was nearly a missing and murdered Indigenous woman, but escaped, running free down King Street East in Hamilton nearly four years ago.

The woman - who The Hamilton Spectator cannot name because of court-ordered publication bans on the identities of sexual assault victims - spoke to a hushed crowd at a vigil held at the foot of the Claremont Access on Wednesday.

The crowd wore red shirts to remember missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirits, and call for no more stolen sisters." More than 100 gathered, some bringing red dresses hung on a clothesline at Hunter Street East and Victoria Avenue South, to remember those who never came home. A sacred fire burned as the crowd listened and watched speakers, songs and dances.

In the decade before she was confined, the Hamilton woman, from the Wendake community in Quebec, was an addict. She would see her drug dealer every day, she told the crowd. This is an important part of her story, because too often victims are afraid to come forward because they fear being blamed.

When they don't come forward because they're a drug addict or a prostitute and they're told well, you're involved in high-risk activity," she said, adding that people need to get ride of that mentality.

One day, her drug dealer didn't have any supply and she was sent to another residence in the city to meet a woman. At the door she met a man she only ever knew as Bobby. He told her he had been watching her and wanted to get at" her, she said.

After escaping this frightening encounter, Bobby wouldn't leave her alone. Days later she was told her boyfriend was at his place and went there to get him, but ended up being locked in a bedroom. She was trapped there for two weeks, being made to wear clothing that wasn't hers, use dirty needles and being sexually assaulted, she said.

One day she was preparing to try to escape while her captor was out, but the man came back. She said he bent her finger back until it popped and he stole her engagement ring. She blacked out.

Next thing I remember I was running down King," she said.

During the two weeks she was missing, her boyfriend was looking for her. When she came home she didn't want to go to the police, but eventually came forward later after learning other victims had reported him. The 53-year-old man was charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement in February 2017. But by the time the court case came up, the woman was pregnant and decided it wasn't healthy for her to attend court.

Now clean and with a healthy two-year-old boy, she hopes her story makes people understand that women need to be protected and the community needs to speak up against violence.

I'm one of the very, very, very lucky ones; I got to make it home to my family. I feel that it's my job to speak up and tell my story," she said.

Her hope is this is a wake-up call so that when her son - her light in the darkness" - is older, things are better.

We're more than just a statistic, we're more than that picture you see on your TV screen for 60 seconds when they say we're missing or have been murdered," she said.

More than a year has passed since the final report from Canada's inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and no plan to address the violence has been implemented.

The vigil also heard from Cody Looking Horse, who is Mohawk and Lakota. He spoke about the murders of two of his cousins and the death of his uncle in 1980s after an encounter with police.

He recited a poem and song for one of his cousins, who was found beaten to death in California after last been seen waiting for a bus to visit family. His other cousin was killed in South Dakota.

These are people's daughters, these are people's babies who are going missing," he said.

Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com