Protest march aims to bring hope to victims of violence
Survivors of abuse join downtown crowd to take part in Take Back the Night rally
Actress, singer-songwriter, advocate for Indigenous people and public speaker Stephanie Harpe has survived abuse and trauma in her life.
While she still bears the physical scars inflicted by a violent former partner, and the lingering memories of her mother’s murder at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, she wants to show Indigenous success stories.
“It was pretty horrible. I thought I was going to die,” Harpe said at Friday’s Take Back the Night event. “I still have injuries, broken ribs, nose problems, scars. When I was strong enough, I went for counselling, got extra help, and when I was strong enough, I started sharing my story.”
Harpe was among more than 100 people who raised their voices at the Take Back the Night event Friday evening in Edmonton. The march started at the Edmonton Iron Workers union building on 122 Street and 105 Avenue, then made its way around the 124 Street area.
Harpe recently opened for David Wilcox with her band, the Stephanie Harpe Experience. She played Rita on the TV show Blackstone and a documentary about her called Colours of My Life is being made.
“Unfortunately, in this day and age, there’s a lot of darkness surrounding Indigenous women and girls, and I want to bring something more positive to the main eye, giving people more hope and inspiring them to live out their dreams as I’ve lived out mine,” Harpe said.
Also speaking at the event, Cynthia Palmaria with Migrante Alberta said their organization deals with Filipino workers’ rights and helping workers who face emotional, financial, physical and sexual abuse.
Palmaria said current laws make migrant women working in Canada under the caregivers program, or temporary foreign workers in the service sector, vulnerable to abuse.
“Their work permit is tied to one employer, which means they’re only allowed to work for one employer at that time,” Palmaria said. “It’s like indentured labour.”
The ability to obtain permanent residency is tied to the length of time the workers spend with this one employer, Palmaria said.
If they need to leave, they require another Labour Market Impact Assessment, which costs $1,000 and could take six months to process, she said.
“Some of them do end up, unfortunately, having to put up with the abuse,” Palmaria said.
One woman, a live-in care worker, escaped sexual abuse by her employer by taking out the trash and hopping into a vehicle driven by a member of Migrante, Palmaria said.
The organization helped another woman whose employer forced her to have abortion because they didn’t want a pregnant woman in the house, Palmaria said.
“Some of them do have the courage to leave, but that jeopardizes their eligibility to be able to stay in Canada,” she said.
I still have injuries, broken ribs, nose problems, scars. When I was strong enough ... I started sharing my story.