‘She’s going to be forever 21’
Yarmouth woman being featured in Ontario campaign drawing awareness to abuse of women
When Yarmouth mom Jennifer Holleman stands before others to talk about her daughter Maddison Fraser, she’s going to reflect on what a beautiful person her daughter was, while also offering a reminder of the horrifying lifestyle she was pulled into.
“I just want to make people wish that they knew who she was and if she were standing right there, everybody would just want to go over and meet her because she’s that much of a beautiful person,” Holleman says.
On Nov. 1, Holleman will speak at the opening ceremonies for the ‘Shine the Light on Woman Abuse’ campaign in London, Ont.
Each year the London Abused Women’s Centre selects two women to be honoured during the month-long campaign and Maddison is one of these women for the 2018 campaign.
Maddison’s life held much promise. She was an athletic girl in her teens and was a two-time Canadian boxing champion. She had thought about becoming a nurse. She was a daughter, sister, granddaughter, friend and young mother.
But at the age of 19 she was targeted for human trafficking and was lured into the sex trade.
She ended up on the other side of the country. At times, she was beaten and tortured. And she was trapped – trapped by the situation and by fear for her life and for the safety of her family.
At the age of 21 – in July 2015 – she died in an automobile crash in Edmonton. The driver of the vehicle, who also died, was said to be a john.
Looking back, Holleman has said there weren’t a lot of warning signs about the turn her daughter’s life had taken. And Maddison also kept many things secret from those who loved her or would reassure them things were fine.
At times when Holleman couldn’t locate her daughter or communication between the two had been cut off, she’d take her concerns to the police, but there was little help she says. It wasn’t until after Maddison’s death that Holleman learned about how horrifying things had been for her daughter.
It made Holleman sad and angry. And vocal. Holleman has been sharing her daughter’s story and drawing attention to the issue of human trafficking. Earlier this year she was given the opportunity to speak to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, which is studying the human trafficking and what can be done to combat it.
Holleman is humbled that Maddison’s story will now be part of the Shine the Light campaign.
In addition to spreading awareness and education about abuse against women (and abuse in many forms), the campaign also encourages communities to go purple to further spread the message.
Maddison’s photo will appear on a billboard that will be displayed in London, Ont. for the duration of the monthlong campaign – her smiling face a reminder of the tragic turn a life can take.
“When I talk to other women and they tell me how they’ve been tortured and how their lives are now, and how they have to hide, nobody should have to live like that,” Holleman says. “I want to bring as much awareness as I can and the only way you do that is by talking about it.”
It was at a conference in Yarmouth on human trafficking and exploitation that Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, heard Holleman share her daughter’s story.
Contacted in London on Oct. 25, the centre was further asked why they chose Maddison for their campaign. Fabienne Haller – who is a campaign co-coordinator with Walker and is also the Fund Development Coordinator of the women’s centre – says Maddison’s story is both heartbreaking and impactful and they hope what happened to her will help other young women through education and awareness and by raising warning flags when they meet ‘that guy’ – the one who acts like a boyfriend but is really a pimp.
“Maddison’s story is a story that unfortunately happens in Canada way too often,” Haller says.
The annual Shine the Light campaign was started in 2010, had grown by 2013 and by 2016 had spread across Canada.
One of the women honoured in a recent campaign was Nova Scotian Paula Gallant who was killed in 2005 by her husband.
This year the other woman being honoured alongside Maddison Fraser in the campaign is Shainee Chalk, a Woodstock woman who was the victim of a revenge porn site when nude photos of her were posted online.
Through the campaign she is sharing the devastating impact this had on her life.
“Sharing intimate photos is so common now and it’s so dangerous because people take advantage of it and it can haunt you, forever,” Haller says, adding each year the campaign honours a woman who has died but also one that has survived abuse.
“It helps to balance the message. The first message is there’s atrocious things happening. We’re losing women and girls in our communities. The second message is there’s help,” she says, adding when a community adopts the campaign they are encouraged to highlight the resources available in these communities.
Resources is another area Holleman is focusing on these days. She has started the Maddison Fraser Society Gives Hope. (Visit their Facebook page for more information.)
What Holleman hopes the non-profit society – launched Sept. 23, which was Maddison’s birthday – will do is provide help to those struggling to get out of human trafficking.
A goal is to establish a facility on the East Coast where women can heal and recover from what they’ve been through.
“If they’re fortunate enough to get out of this lifestyle, they’re a mess. It’s a really sad thing to say. They’re mentally tortured, they’re emotionally tortured, they’re definitely physically tortured, they’re scared, and many have nowhere to go,” Holleman says.
“I know what happened to
my child. I know what’s happening to these women. I can’t force prosecutors to change their minds. I can’t change things myself. So, I just decided I’m going to try this. I’m going to start this,” she says. “I’ll just go from here and see what happens. With any luck at all we’ll see results.”
Meanwhile, there’s not a day that goes by that Maddison is not on her mother’s mind.
“It’s been three years and I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it. I look at her pictures every day and she’s going to be forever 21. That’s just never going to change.
“It’s hard because I miss her. I miss her a lot.”