Voiceless no more

There are more than 580 missing or murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada, with 93 cases in Alberta alone, most of them unsolved murder cases. Those numbers are disturbing to Nathalie Kermoal , who wants to raise awareness of the issue through a talk she is leading as part of the University of Alberta's International Week activities. "It is important to bring awareness of the fact that there is an alarmingly high rate of violence against Aboriginal women and girls in Canada." This year's theme for International Week is "Conscious Culture: Finding Paths to a Better World." Kermoal's topic found its way into the lineup of events based on a Canadian Studies class Kermoal teaches at Campus Saint-Jean. Focused on political, constitutional and urban issues, class discussion included the troubling subject of violence against Aboriginal women and girls. One of the students, Aurélie Lesueur, went on to conduct some research about media coverage of the issue, including some stereotypes she found were being perpetuated. Presenting the talk in French at Campus Saint-Jean on Jan. Kermoal will be joined by Lesueur, who will share her research findings, and by another Campus Saint-Jean colleague, Emma Yellowbird, who will outline community awareness initiatives, such as the REDress project that came to campus in 2012.