DRUMS WERE beating and First Nations singing filled the air as participants in the 2011 Walk4Justice left Prince Rupert on Thursday afternoon, taking the first steps in a walk that will take them all the way from the Pacific Ocean to Parliament in Ottawa.
This leg of the Walk4Justice will take people along Highway 16 to Prince George, also known as the Highway of Tears due to the number of missing or murdered women, before making its way down to Kamloops where walkers will meet with others who started the journey in Vancouver. From there the group will make their way through the prairies with the goal of being in Ottawa on September 19.
Walk4Justice was started in 2008 by Gladys Radek, the aunt of Tamara Chipman who went missing just outside of Prince Rupert in 2005, and Bernie Williams, with the goal being “to raise awareness about the plight of the far too many Missing and Murdered women across Canada”
“Since our first walk, conditions have not improved for women in Canada. In our view, they have worsened. Women in Canada are still being raped, tortured, sold for sexual slavery and murdered at an alarming rate. Aboriginal women (according to Amnesty International) are three to four times more likely to be victims of violence than other Canadian women,” read a letter from Bernie and Gladys outlining why they are undertaking the Walk4Justice.
“We are walking for justice, closure, equality and accountability, our voices are being heard. We are walking to call for a National Missing and Murdered Women’s Symposium to be held in Vancouver, BC. We need our governments, leadership, police and judicial system to stand accountable for the serious flaws in the systems that make all women targets in this country…We are walking for a National Missing and Murdered Women’s Public Inquiry so that each and every woman who has been missing or murdered in the past 4 decades is accounted for. There is a dire need to address the discriminatory, racist practices that have taken place involving the police, politicians, the judicial system and societal acceptance of the horrendous crimes against humanity.”
For more information on the Walk4Justice or ways to make a donation, visit fnbc.info/walk4justice
