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\u00a0A lack of public transportation might be inconvenient for some, but for vulnerable women attempting to escape an abuser, it can be suffocating.<\/p>\n
In November 2017, Saskatoon-West MP Sheri Benson told the house that \u201cthe situation would lead to a new Highway of Tears,\u201d she said, referring to a stretch of Highway 16 in B.C. where between 16 and 40 women have been murdered.<\/p>\n
Having heard the stories of women travelling Saskatchewan highways, Dusel, executive director of PATHS, thinks that\u2019s a fair comparison.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to know what a safe ride is, so even if you\u2019re doing that checking around online, that\u2019s not really a guarantee,\u201d Dusel said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Natives Women\u2019s Association of Canada (NWAC) has echoed that concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lack of safe transportation in and out of communities creates more vulnerability for Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people by encouraging travelers to resort to less safe means of transportation such as hitchhiking or walking unsafe highways. By virtue of this significant access barrier, it will exacerbate the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls,\u201d the association said in a written statement.<\/p>\n
The Interim Report<\/a> of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls has identified \u201cthe need for more frequent and accessible transportation services to be made available to Indigenous women.\u201d<\/p>\n Because the NWAC has been involved in talks with the federal working group, the organization declined comment on ongoing transportation issues in Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n According to data compiled<\/a> from 582 cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls by NWAC in 2010, the percentage of Aboriginal women and girls who were murdered by strangers in Saskatchewan was more than double the national percentage. Of the 61 cases in Saskatchewan, 44 per cent involved strangers. And the rate of murders that occurred on streets, roads, and highways in Saskatchewan is higher than the national average.<\/p>\n It is difficult to know exactly what effect the loss of public transportation has had on the health and safety of Indigenous women and girls, but front-line workers and managers of women\u2019s shelters across the province have measured the direct impact of the loss of the STC on vulnerable women across the province.<\/p>\n When PATHS surveyed its member agencies last July it heard that 70 per cent of staff had heard directly from women who had hitchhiked to get to a women\u2019s shelter or service centre.<\/p>\n Accessibility in rural and remote regions has always been an issue, but more women trying to escape intimate partner violence are now unable to access shelters and social services. Either they can\u2019t arrange for transportation, or they take their chances on the road.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very common for them to hitchhike for some part of the journey,\u201d Dusel said. “A lot of people have been left in the lurch.”<\/p>\n And, she has heard some chilling anecdotes.<\/p>\n Women are sometimes pressured for payment beyond cash for gas, for example. In one reported instance, a client was hitchhiking in order to visit her child, who was in someone else\u2019s care.<\/p>\n \u201cAlong the way, the driver wanted sexual services as part of payment. She refused. He assaulted her, threw her out of the car and left her on the side of the road. So those are the sorts of situations that individuals are forced into because of a lack of a public transportation service,\u201d Dusel said.<\/p>\n This survey was conducted in July of 2018, before the loss of Greyhound, but after the loss of STC.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people have been left in the lurch.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2013 Jo-Anne Dusel<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Women\u2019s shelter staff members have told PATHS that women have contacted them seeking help and laying out plans to travel to the city the following day.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll say, \u2018I\u2019m coming, hold a room for me,\u2019\u201d Dusel said. And then they won\u2019t show up.<\/p>\n Dusel said this has left staff wondering if these women were unable to get transportation, simply stayed in their abusive situation, or experienced danger while travelling.<\/p>\n The Saskatchewan arm of a research network dubbed Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse (RESOLVE), that co-ordinates and supports research aimed at ending violence, especially violence involving girls and women, released a report in 2018.<\/p>\n After five years of collaborative research across Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, RESOLVE found that transportation is a big barrier for women escaping intimate partner violence. Research by the group shows that incidents of intimate partner and family violence are disproportionately more common in rural and remote communities, especially in the North.<\/p>\n Saskatchewan is, in many ways, an outlier. According to a Statistics Canada report<\/a>, Saskatchewan has the highest rate of intimate partner violence among provinces in Canada. \u201cThat is consistent over many years,\u201d Dusel said.<\/p>\n\n