Local women still missing
Published Wednesday July 23rd, 2008
Campbellton - After four years, the whereabouts of two local women are still unknown.
In fact, Gladys Simon of Listuguj, who left the Restigouche Hospital Centre on June 24, 2004 to go for a walk but never returned, is currently the only woman in the province who is listed as being missing. This according to the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
"We haven't found any counts for missing NB women overall or lists on Sisters of Spirit sites but there is the ongoing search for Gladys Simon of Campbellton (4 years missing http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/rss/article/308617. Also Donna Joe found murdered in 1992, www.missingnativewomen.ca/native8.html)" said Rosella Melanson in an e-mail.
The sombre anniversary of Simon's disappearance comes only weeks after a coroner's inquest into the death of an Aboriginal woman who last lived the Campbellton area. Deborah Harquail, the sister of Leona Harquail, pushed for the inquest, saying not enough is being done to help people with addictions, let alone those people with addictions who might have mental health issues. The Harquails are of Aboriginal descent which was also an issue that was addressed at the inquest.
Harquail said at her sister's inquest that there are currently a number of women missing in the province and that all of them are aboriginal. She said that not enough is being done to address the abuse and violence that Aboriginal women are subjected to and believed the incidents are higher amongst Aboriginal women.
"I had a dream about Donna Joe before I ever heard about this over ten years ago when I first moved to Fredericton," said Harquail of Donna Joe who was murdered and found in the Fredericton area in 1992. She had been unidentified until DNA identification was made in 2002 revealing her identity and home being Burnt Church.
Karen Splude
Harquail also made mention of an Eel River Bar woman, Karen Splude, 37, who she said has been reported missing. There is a group on facebook.com ("the search for my sister") that indicates Splude has not been seen by her family since going missing in the Halifax area in 2003.
"Apparently there are over 500 women missing and murdered Aboriginal Women,"said Harquail who wants provincial and federal governments to get more involved in combatting Aboriginal women abuse.
Melanson said the issue of domestic violence itself is a "crime grossly underreported to police" and cited statistics from the last five years that show domestic violence is continuing.
Splude's sister Angela Legacy said June 18 that no one has heard from or seen her sister in a long time
"It has been 5 years since anyone has heard from her. Now that my mom has been has diagnosed with a terminal illness, we are more determined to find out what has happened to my sister."
She said the Facebook group has turned up some leads but nothing concrete.
"The group is good but more publicity would help. My sister in Ontario and I made the decision to further the search. I was supposed to get in touch with the police again. The last report was a few years ago to missing persons in New York."
She said she had to undergo emergency surgery a few weeks ago so she had to take time to heal but planned on visiting the police to file another report on June 23.
"We are not getting any new information on her whereabouts, and this is frustrating to us her family and friends."
Statistics
"According to Statistics Canada's 2004 General Social Survey (latest available), 6 per cent of NB women surveyed (and 7 per cent of NB men surveyed), aged 15 and over said they had experienced violence during the past five years in a current or previous married or common-law relationship.
"From the 2008 Report Card on the Status of Women in N.B., p. 65: reported incidents of woman abuse and problems stats:
From the early 1990s until 2004, New Brunswick government departments compiled information on reported woman abuse incidents, police response and court outcomes in an annual publication, New Brunswick Family Violence Criminal Justice Statistical Report. The New Brunswick government has discontinued publication of this report. In addition, because the RCMP, which handles policing in most areas of the province, are undergoing data system changes, their data is not available for 2005. Police data for 2005 is only available for cities and regions still policed by a municipal force other than the RCMP."
In 2005, 346 incidents of woman abuse were reported to the nine municipal police forces in the province that serve areas not covered by the RCMP, up from 326 the previous year but down from 389 reported incidents in 1999. Woman abuse is defined as incidents where women in intimate relationships were reported to be victims of criminal offences.
In all but five of the reported cases from 2005, the police determined that there was evidence that woman abuse had occurred. The vast majority of the incidents involved physical assaults (290), while others featured criminal harassment or stalking (15), threats (32), sexual assault (2), forcible confinement (2), breach of peace bond (2) and harassing phone calls (1).
Charges were laid in just over half (53 per cent) of the founded incidents in 2005, others were cleared by peace bond and a considerable number of cases remained outstanding at year's end. In 2004, when data for all New Brunswick police forces was available, 879 woman abuse incidents had been reported to the police, up from 772 the previous year.
As for women (and rarely men) who are killed by their partner, Melanson said too many die at the hands of their partner.
"Since 1974, close to 90 New Brunswick women, plus a few related victims (children, mother or friend) have been killed by the women's current or ex-partner. At least 13 of these cases were homicide-suicides. (Compiled from media reports and special runs by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada)."
She also added that more women have been turning to shelters (such as Maison Notre Dame in Campbellton) to escape an abusive partner.
Sgt. James Bates of the Restigouche-Chaleur said little headway has been made on the four-year-old file.
"The file is still open. Our policy is that a missing person file cannot be concluded until the person is located. The matter remains unresolved but all avenues have been explored. We are essentially awaiting new information to advance this investigation further."
Simon has been missing since June 24, 2004 when RCMP were advised that she was missing from the Restigouche Hospital Centre. It is believed that Simon may have hitchhiked along Rte. 11, possibly heading towards Big Cove or Moncton.
She is described as Aboriginal, 6'2", 300 pounds with short hair and wearing dark pants and a beige top when last seen. Simon is also diabetic and requires insulin on a daily basis.
People with information on her whereabouts should call the RCMP at 789-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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