Forsaken Children

On my last trip to Fort Simpson in the Northwest Territories I became acutely aware of how many paedophiles and sex offenders there are in the community. Of course, not just Fort Simpson. I have been struggling these past few years on how to bring this to the attention of the public. To people who care. To people who intervene and write policy. Whati, Behchoko, Colville Lake, Fort Good Hope...and the list goes on.

Every month I am pained by the many disclosures from clients regarding the childhood sexual abuse they were subjected to. We know there is a correlation to drug/alcohol abuse. Norman Wells has, like Simpson has, a huge problem with cocaine. Everyone knows who the dealers are but then so many people are using/abusing drugs. Throw Hay River and Yellowknife into the mix and you see how huge the problem is. Combine this with the failure of current treatment programs and you have an ongoing nightmare.

In the smaller communities’ girls are at risk for being sexually assaulted before age 16. More the norm than the exception. Yes, the norm. If this was happening in one of the provinces there would be a commission struck to deal with this. The sexual abuse of children is a far more critical issue/crisis then who sells marijuana. Who cries for the children? As we have failed to ‘drug proof’ young people we have failed to protect our most vulnerable group…indigenous children and youth. I believe remaining silent on the issue only works to further the abuse. I cannot remain silent any longer. I hope others will bring the nightmare into the light. We need voices, brave voices to break the silence and the suffering that is happening every day.