by Glenice Lilje

Content warning:  sexual assault, murder victims, racism, MMIWG, domestic violence/abuse

Stats Canada states that more than 11 million Canadians have been physically or sexually assaulted since the age of 15. Women are victimized at a higher rate (37 incidents per 1000 women) but unfortunately, only about 5% of sexual assaults are reported to police[1].  Family violence account for 25% of all violent crimes with 70% of family violence victims being women or girls.[2] Sadly, only 30% of affected women report to the police. For decades, Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or later found murdered. So why is there high evidence of incidences yet low reporting rates?

Some victims may feel like their voices may not be heard or feel powerless to the support systems that are intended to help them.  They may feel ashamed, embarrassed or afraid that they may get someone in trouble. Others may not have access to services or don’t know how to reach out. However, there are a small few who have found a way to share their pain, trauma and their suffering.  The titles displayed below are stories shared from survivors and from those who helped amplify their voices.

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott, 2019.

Alicia Elliott provides a personal glimpse into the treatment of Native people in North America. The intimate detailing of intergenerational trauma stemming from colonialism, sexual assault, poverty, mental health and gentrification of Indigenous communities. Interweaving the past and the present as well as the personal and the political, Elliott uses her personal experiences and others to display how systemic oppression has and is still affecting Native communities. In A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, Alicia Elliott hopes readers will think more critically about how they got to where they are and that people aren’t always the result of their own actions

Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing Women and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by Jessica McDiarmid, 2019.

Highway 16 is an isolated segment of highway that runs along northwestern British Columbia, also known as the “Highway of Tears”.  It is so named as hundreds of Indigenous women and girls in this area have gone missing or later found murdered for many, many decades.  Journalist, Jessica McDiarmid, interviews the devastated families and communities of these victims and investigates how this could happen in an area that is over-policed yet under-protected.  McDiarmid shares this powerful story about the continuing failure to provide justice for the victims and serves as a tribute to their families and communities’ unrelenting determination to find it.

No Visible Bruises:  What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder, 2019.

Did you know that more than 50 women in America die every month from domestic abuse? If this tragedy is so prevalent, why isn’t it being treated like a national emergency? In No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know about Domestic Violence Can Kill Us, journalist Rachel Louise Snyder, educates the reader on the true scope of domestic violence and how it goes beyond bruises and broken bones.  Snyder claims the indifference toward domestic violence trickles down from top levels of society where victims are made to feel ashamed and that they should simply leave their home if they are abused. Through stories of victims, perpetrators, law enforcements and reform movements, the author explores the outdated idea of what goes on behind closed doors is no one’s business is and that society’s ignorance has allowed these dangerous patterns to carry on unchecked.

CRIAW Fact Sheet: Violence against Women in Canada (Short Version)

[1] Www150.statcan.gc.ca. 2017. Gender-based violence and unwanted sexual behaviour in Canada, 2018: Initial findings from the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces. [online] Available at: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2019001/article/00017-eng.htm.

[2] Cwhn.ca. 2021. Domestic violence in Canada. [online] Available at: https://cwhn.ca/en/Resources/domesticviolence#:~:text=%20Domestic%20violence%20in%20Canada%20%201%2025,This%20was%20most%20often%20the%20case…%20More%20.

by Glenice Lilje

Have you ever heard the expressions, the “Sunday Scaries” or that someone has “the case of the Mondays”?  Have you been working from home and dread the return of the daily commute? Purchased a lottery ticket in hopes of breaking free from your 9 -5 routine?  You’re not alone. There are many times where I have caught myself staring out the window, or wished I had a job that required me to travel. Although I long for a break in my predictable work schedule, changes can be daunting. Sure, I may complain about the monotony, but if I am being honest, I am nowhere ready to become my own boss take a little comfort in knowing what my work week is going to look like. But for some people working 9-5 Monday to Friday doesn’t fit their lifestyles or they find that they are most productive with a more flexible schedule.  Though we can’t always be our own bosses, but we do have some control over our work environment.

Think back when the pandemic was first declared.  People had to rearrange their whole lives and figure out a way to work from home, or attend school from home, and some had to become their children’s teacher while also trying to meet project deadlines. The lines between work and home became blurred and “day pajamas” entered our vocabulary. Some people lost their jobs all together and had to either figure something else out or apply for government assistance.  But if you think about, it was scary, it was awkward, but it was manageable.  The pandemic also provided time to take a step back to reassess and sometimes needing to readjust.  For me, I wanted to put my mental health and job satisfaction at the forefront and sought resources to make my work day better. I wasn’t ready to become my own boss, but as I awkwardly navigated through the pandemic, I have been listening to myself more and made a promise to continuously reassess and adapt.

Below are some materials that suggests ways to change up the work week, vamp up your work environment or provide you with some insights to help revise your outlook and/or career goals.

Sustaining Workforce Engagement: How to Ensure Your Employees are Healthy, Happy and Productive by Lonnie Wilson, 2019.

This book explains the importance of employee engagement is for your business, how it can be achieved and how to sustain it.  Lonnie Wilson takes a look into the psychological, emotional and social forces that inspires employees to become engaged and create a happy and productive workforce.  Provided are ways to measure engagement, suggestions for management to help achieve or improve it, and why people can try so hard to create a fully engaged workforce with the best intentions yet still fall short.  The author includes a critical and comprehensive series of discussions, looks into scholarly theories, shares experiences to help explain the mystery of achieving engagement. For Wilson, it ultimately all boils down to whether or not people are prepared for change.

No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings, 2020.

Netflix first started in 1997 as a mail-in DVD subscription-based service. Since then, it has exploded globally as a well-known content platform and production company.  No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention follows founder and co-CEO, Reed Hastings, and his detailing of how Netflix created and evolved its corporate culture which fosters and environment of employee “freedom and responsibility”. This book may act as a step-by-step guide of how Hastings has restructured the typical business model and how it has helped form the basis for Netflix’s exponential growth and category-dominating position it holds today.

by Jarrett Seto

Criminal Elements

Stories about crime are fascinating. People are repulsed and enthralled by the crime itself, the criminals, and the motives. We always want to know why, what reasoning could possibly justify what they did? Sometimes it’s a cautionary tale, other times the crime is senseless, and sometimes it’s a situational response. Depending on the nature of the crime, some criminals exist as almost a figure of sympathy that appeals to a particular audience. I mean, if I had to choose I’d pick Ned Kelly or abolitionist John Brown (a criminal in the Antebellum South) over Jordan Belfort, but I’m not a finance-bro. In a way, the criminal represents a collective malice that lurks in the subconscious layers of our ape brains. We’ve trailed off from my point. Different criminals elicit different responses, and in every book here aside from My Sister, The Serial Killer, the criminals have nothing to offer but disgust. These books focus on crime and criminals, and each is very different from the others.

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

This was not an easy book to read. It’s great, and it’s a well written book. But it’s even darker than the title implies. The story centers on a young and brilliant scholarship winning student from her teenage years through to adulthood. Unfortunately you’ll find out that many of those years are stolen from her as she suffers from the repercussions of a predatory relationship that she has with a teacher. The obfuscation of guilt that the predator projects onto Vanessa adds a layer of bitterness throughout the book, and it’s like witnessing an accident in slow motion, bit by bit. You keep hoping someone’s going to hit the brakes but it doesn’t happen.

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

And on to a lighter read. The humour in Oyinkan Braithwaite’s sardonic novel is on the darker side of course, but tongue in cheek and even with serial murders it’s a happier experience than My Dark Vanessa (Again, a well written and objectively good book {Technically, my opinions subjective, since all opinions are, but I think that I’ve read enough books to know what constitutes as a “good” book}, but a tough one). Korede and Ayoolah are sisters that have what one may call a semi-dysfunctional relationship. At least they understand one another. You may find yourself smirking at inappropriate times while reading this multilayered novel. It’s filled with witty writing and unique character development.

Missing From The Village: The Story Of Serial Killer Bruce McArthur, The Search For Justice, And The System That Failed Toronto by Justin Ling

In Missing From The Village, you will find failure in both the police force, and to a lesser extent, a city. The Toronto police forces’ homophobia and institutional racism contributed to more people being murdered and Ling’s book reveals a slew of investigative errors. It seems like the police didn’t want to accept that there was a serial killer on the loose until it was far too late. Incredulously, the killer had been questioned by police three separate times, two of which being in direct relation to the disappearances. Bruce McArthur was no criminal mastermind; he was simply a monster disguised as a human being. It’s a shame that it took the police many more years than it should have to apprehend him. Hopefully this book will open up dialogue and help ensure that (maybe) the next serial killer will be apprehended quicker.

by Jarrett Seto

Isolation

From snow covered St. Johns to the streets of Jaipur, and from the 1950s up to the present, the feeling of being alone while surrounded by people hasn’t changed much, if at all. Each of these novels deal with alienation, solitude, and combating the insecurities that arise with those strains of loneliness.

Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles

Megan Gail Coles debut novel will grab your attention right off the bat. Just like the blizzard that occurs in the beginning of her novel, the whirlwind of emotional abuse and toxic masculinity circles around her characters, who themselves have their own demons to contend with. The cold Newfoundland winter and the omnipotent and grey Atlantic paint a nuanced backdrop for the characters who feel alone, against themselves and those around them, living in the East Coast.

The Youth of God by Hassan Ghedi Santur.

One could say that this novel explores a Canadian seasoning that previous generations of immigrants didn’t often encounter. The Youth of God details the struggle that many Somali Canadians face, and the feeling of living two lives simultaneously. The culture that they carry with them and life in Toronto, a massive city populated with many immigrants from varying backgrounds, merge together in a blend of experiences. The duality of being an immigrant, along with the social isolation that can be carried with it, and the desire to belong, weave a heartfelt tale.

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

Once seventeen year old Lakshmi escapes from her abusive marriage, she decides to relocate to Jaipur. It’s the 1950’s and she slowly works her way into wealthy circles, thanks to her skills as a henna artist. Everyone is telling Lakshmi their darkest secrets, and she’s unable to reveal any of hers. After all, can she really trust these upper class women who she works for? Her new life is turned on its head one day when people from her past arrive, along with some entirely unexpected news.