The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Submitted by Flin Flon SEY Committee Flin Flon's SEY (Sexual Exploit-ation of Youth) Committee invites everyone in our community, especially grandmothers, to join us for a short walk today, Sept. 21, at 4 p.m. from the Neighbours of the North Park (the metal flowers) to Pioneer Square (the new Main St. park). This walk will be held in support of a group formed in 2007 called the Kookum Kaa Na Da Maa Waad Abinoojiiak Council, or "Grand-mothers Protecting Our Children" who do their Annual Sacred Walk each year on this day. The message they give is that "Children are Sacred." Abuse The group was started by a grandmother, outraged after hearing stories of abuse by adults on children, often in the form of sexual exploitation. She called upon aboriginal women, leaders and grandmothers to stand together and let it be known that the children's voices need to be heard; that they are not alone; that they are loved. As elders and grandmothers, these women have reclaimed their roles as protectors of our children. When living in more remote areas of the province, it is often assumed that problems like sexual exploitation don't happen here, but the truth is that it does. Many youth all over the province become victims of exploitation when they are asked or forced to exchange sex for necessities or other items like transportation, food, clothing, shelter, cigarettes or alcohol. According to reports written by the TERF Mentor and Youth Program of Winnipeg in 2005 and 2006, statistics for Manitoba have shown that 85-90 per cent of sexually exploited children/youth are female and 10-15 per cent are male. Also, 13 is the average age that children report being when they first experienced exploitation, and 70-80 per cent of children and youth exploited in Manitoba are of aboriginal descent. The SEY committee is made up of community members who believe that this should/can be stopped and that it cannot be mistaken as a "lifestyle choice" on the part of the child/youth Ð it is child abuse. For more information about this committee or to become a member, call 687-1353. For more information on Manitoba's provincial strategy, go to www.gov.mb.ca/fs/traciastrust/index.html.
