Final day of public hearings for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls
Posted April 8, 2018 10:52 am.
Last Updated April 8, 2018 12:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A longtime advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous women is telling her own full story of abuse on the last day of public hearings for the national inquiry.
Bernie Williams, who has fought for women on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for 30 years, says her abuse began at age three and continued through foster homes and a marriage, involving broken bones and brutal rapes.
She says she never wears shorts because her legs are so scarred from cigarette burns.
Today is the final day of public hearings in Metro Vancouver for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
The inquiry was established by the federal government in 2015 to investigate the disproportionately high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada, and to give family members a chance to have their stories heard.
Chief Commissioner Marion Buller, who has said the inquiry needs more time, is expected to make closing remarks this afternoon.
