Hate crime sexual assault has Thunder Bay on edge

On Dec. 27, 2012 a First Nations woman in Thunder Bay was abducted off of the street by two men in a car and taken a remote area where she was violently sexually assaulted. Due to the racially motivated nature of the assault, police are treating it is a possible hate-crime.
Christi Belcourt, a noted artist and close friend of the victim, has been acting as the spokesperson for the family. Out of fear of the attacker’s reprisal upon finding out their victim did not die, the family would like to remain anonymous.
Belcourt explained that two caucasian men pulled up next to the woman, who was walking to the store, and began shouting racial insults, along with pieces of garbage, at her.
The two perpetrators then stopped the car and grabbed the woman by the hair and forced her into the backseat of the car. “She tried to fight back, but there were two of them and the one was stronger than she was. He sat on her as they drove her to the outskirts of Thunder Bay,” Belcourt said.
After a vicious sexual assault and strangulation, the men left the woman in the cold rural area and fled the scene. “They told her as they assaulted her that ‘you Indians deserve to lose your treaty rights’” Belcourt said. She explained that the assailants would not have said that if it were not for Idle No More, the recent movement that has swept across the world in response to the Harper government’s omnibus budget Bill C-45.
Belcourt said that the men told the victim that they had done similar assaults before and would do them again. “Psychologically, she is traumatized,” Belcourt said of the victim.
The victim’s mother gave an interview to CBC radio, in which she said “I’m very grateful that my daughter is with me today. This could have been a lot worse.”
“The brutality experienced by her through this incident is probably going to leave scars,” the mother continued. “We’re going to be living with this for a long time.”
The victim’s mother then encouraged other First Nation victims of sexual assault to come forward and speak to victim’s services in the city to help expose the amount of injustice First Nations women face.
A candle-lit vigil for the victim to pray for her recovery took place near Fort William First Nation soon after the attack, and a reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators was posted on a social-media website online.
“I’m not gonna let this go,” the victim’s mother told CBC radio.
At a community safety forum that took place on Tuesday, Jan.15, Thunder Bay Chief of Police J.P Levesque assured attendees that the police force was treating the incident as a “major case.” According to Detective Inspector Don Lewis, five full-time criminal investigation officers have been assigned to the case.
Meanwhile First Nations residents of Thunder Bay are offering their own rewards for information leading to the arrest of the two men.
Ron Kanutski of Lake Helen took to Facebook to offer a $500 reward for information.
Kanutski explained that he is well aware that sexual assaults happen to women on a nearly daily basis, but upon hearing of the horrific race-driven assault, he “couldn’t just sit around anymore and do nothing.”
“After this last incident, I thought that I have to get involved,” Kanutski said. “I thought that I can’t just sit and watch anymore, sitting and watching was being part of the problem. So I went through social media and made the post about the award. And it really spurred it on, people were like, ‘alright I’m with you.’”
When more donations for the reward started to pour in from people around him who wanted to help, Kanutski decided to go to Crimestoppers to take over the reward.
Kanutski said that Crimestoppers is willing to work with him regarding the reward and treating it differently due to the amount of donations that came in for information.
“We need to start protecting our community, to keep our women and children safe,” Kanutski added. “And know that this case, this assault, is being taken very seriously by the police.
It is not being overlooked. It’s important to come together to take back our neighbourhoods.”
Maryanne Matthews, Communications Officer for the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA), also feels it is important for women to get help when they have been assaulted or have experienced violence.
Matthews explained that violence against Aboriginal women happens at exponentially higher rates than among non-Aboriginal women. “According to ONWA’s Breaking Free report, 8 out of 10 Aboriginal women have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime,” she stated.
“As a woman’s organization, ONWA embraces the profound responsibility to take care of our women, our children, and our communities,” Matthews said. “Violence against Aboriginal women has always been, and will continue to be, a top priority for us as we continue to advocate for Aboriginal rights.”
Matthews explained that there are resources available to women who need help, and encourages anyone who is experiencing abuse in any form and needs assistance to reach out to ONWA.
Matthews said that there is also the Aboriginal Women’s Help Line, Talk4Healing, that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. “Women in need can simply call the toll-free number 1-855-554-HEAL) or even visit www.talk4healing.com,” Matthews said.