At this time, 5yrs ago, my colleagues & I were under lockdown as a man drove around Renfrew County, killing three women.

Anastasia, Carol and Nathalie were beloved members of their communities.

The man who killed them was known to be dangerous.

Nobody stopped him.

I'll never forget sitting around the sexual assault centre, under lockdown, getting texts from community members, trying to piece together who was terrorizing the community.

I'll never forget the painful irony of having to decide if we cancelled the "Take Back the Night" march.

I'll never forget having to do media the next day, bleary eyed and frazzled, trying so hard to stay present so that I could plead with Canadians to give a shit about women's lives. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2676066219

Every time I see another case of violence against women in a rural setting, I am brought back to the days after the femicides in Wilno and our outright begging for Canadians to care.

We did everything we could to raise awareness & provoke action. https://www.cbc.ca/fifth/blog/violence-against-women-in-rural-communities

I'll never forget being given a measly 15 mins to present to the Premier and the Premier's Roundtable on Violence against Women. I was tasked with bringing our recommendations to the big shots in Toronto.

I remember the head nods followed by a brazen "Anyway, next agenda item."

I'll never forget that the Premier refused to publicly condemn what happened in Wilno because it was "an ongoing investigation" while she blatantly (and justifiably!) politicized the (then-ongoing) Ghomeshi case as a means of passing legislation on sexual violence.

Today is always really difficult and this year I'm feeling it extra hard with all the murders in rural Portapique and the murder of 14 year old Chase Althouse in rural Saskatchewan who was killed trying to protect his mom from her abuser.

Please include rural women in your work to end violence against women.

Women living in non-urban settings accounted for more than 1/3 of all femicide cases in Canada last year.

Please do it for Anastasia, Carol and Nathalie. There is no justice without systemic change.

If you want to do something concrete, please make a donation to @WSACRenfrew

They have done so much to honour the lives of Carol, Nathalie and Anastasia. They have been a strong voice for rural women for years & because they are rural, are underfunded.

Please support them.