OP-ED | National Victims and Survivors of Crime Week

When the System Fails Women, the Community Must Rise

Each year, National Victims and Survivors of Crime Week offers an opportunity to shed light on the experiences of those whose lives have been altered by violence, loss, and injustice. But for many of us, this week is not just about awareness—it’s personal. It’s soul work.

As a woman who grew up surrounded by complex trauma, who has worked in mental health and addictions for over 15 years, and who was brutalized by a corrupt board and employer while trying to lead with integrity, I know what it feels like to be silenced, gaslit, and discarded. I know the taste of injustice. And I have made it my mission to ensure other women know they are not alone.

Through founding the Interior Women’s Centre Society and working alongside some of the most incredible volunteers, staff, and community members, a clear and painful truth has emerged—loud and unrelenting: women are still not safe.

From intimate partner violence to workplace abuse, from coercive control to femicide, the stories we hear in our space are far too common. They echo from every corner of our communities. They cross income levels, professions, and cultures. And yet, they are still not talked about nearly enough.

The numbers are staggering:

• In Canada, a woman is killed by her intimate partner every six days.

• In 2023, over 160 women and girls lost their lives to femicide.

• 70% of Canadian women have experienced some form of gender-based violence.

• Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than non-Indigenous women.

• Nearly 40% of women in Canada report experiencing workplace harassment, including gender-based slurs, threats, and intimidation.

• Women are three times more likely than men to be victims of sexual harassment at work, and racialized women, disabled women, and trans women are disproportionately targeted.

These are not just statistics. These are our sisters. Our mothers. Our neighbours. Our colleagues. These are women who trusted the systems around them to protect them, and were let down again and again.

As a woman who was pushed out of leadership through coercive control, defamation, and systemic gaslighting, I know the psychological violence that happens when power is abused behind closed doors. For a long time, I thought I had failed. That somehow I had brought it on myself. It took me two years to realize the truth: I was the only one trying to implement proper governance. And proper governance is accountability—something that threatens those who benefit from dysfunction and silence.

That experience nearly broke me. But it also woke me up.

And I made a promise:
I will never stop speaking out.

I will speak about corruption in nonprofits.
I will speak about coercive control in workplaces.
I will speak about trauma-informed leadership.
I will advocate for survivors until my last breath.

Because no woman should be treated like a product.
No woman should be discarded for speaking the truth.
No woman should be silenced to protect the comfort of others.

Through building community, I have learned the true power of solidarity. The strength that comes from shared stories. The healing that unfolds when women realize they are not alone. And that devastation—that so many of us carry similar scars—is also fuel. It reminds us why we must keep going.

That is why, twice a month, the Interior Women’s Centre is partnering with the Thompson Okanagan Legal Clinic and Kamloops Libraries to provide free, public education on human rights—from understanding workplace protections to learning how to advocate for policy change. On May 15, we will explore our rights around civic engagement, political expression, and how to speak truth to power—legally and unapologetically.

This Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, we invite you to join us.

Come visit our art installation, hosted at the Artisan Bazaar on Victoria Street, created in collaboration with survivors, helpers, and healers, telling the stories of women who continue to rise.

Hold space for the women whose voices are stitched into every piece.

Talk to your loved ones about the realities of crime and injustices that are impacting the women within our communities.

Join the growing movement to say: enough is enough.

We cannot afford to stay silent.
We cannot afford to look away.
We must keep speaking. We must keep advocating.
Because when one woman is harmed, we are all called to act.

This is the heartbeat behind our work.
And it will not stop.

—

Kathleen E. Larose
Founder & CEO, Interior Women’s Centre Society