Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

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

10 reviews

stephhborges's review

dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Classism, Drug abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Grief, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, and Addiction

katharina90's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

A generally well-written, emotional account of the long-ignored emergency of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada with a focus on Hwy 16 in BC, nicknamed the Highway of Tears. 

The structure of the book didn't always work for me and I would have liked to see a closer examination of the systemic issues at the heart of this genocide.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Genocide, Racism, and Colonisation

Minor: Police brutality and Sexual violence

whatannikareads's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.75

such an important book that humanizes these victims rather than letting them fall victim to forgotten history. i was tearing up at some points because my heart hurt at how these indigenous GIRLS--yes mostly teenage girls--were treated before and after their murders/disappearances. how shameful that this continues to be something that these families are fighting to get recognized, and that indigenous women are still going missing at higher rates than average. mcdiarmid reports both sides of the story, from the families as well as law enforcement. as a journalist, she sticks to her duty and highlights all aspects of the story (that can be tracked down). i only vaguely knew about this genocide beforehand, and so i'm glad i picked this up and am able to put names to faces--not just know their tragedies, but also their personalities and how much they meant to the people around them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Rape, Death, Drug use, Grief, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

ninjamuse's review against another edition

dark emotional informative slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Classism, Sexual violence, Sexism, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Rape, Murder, Child abuse, Trafficking, and Addiction

ladykatka's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Heartbreaking and worthy read
The journey of Truth and Reconciliation must include books like this, the ones that tell the sad and hard stories that nobody wants to think about for too long. that talk about the systematic racism that occurred and still occurs. That brings to light the goodness and real people that the victims were and the families are. Until everyone fully understands what happened in the past but is also happening right now the journey to Reconciliation is going to be much harder.

I avoided this book for a long time because I wanted to opt for books written by Indigenous authors but this was very respectfully done and well researched. I had known about the missing and murdered women and girls as well as the highway of tears but this provided so much more information including details about the women, girls, and their families. it is moving and tragic and leaves with a desire to do something. 

Definitely recommend this book just as an eye opening read that gives you a small look into a huge problem. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

atsundarsingh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.25

Compelling writing about one of Canada's most shameful contemporary issues regarding the treatment of Indigenous people and Indigenous women specifically. A call to arms, but in the manner of emphasizing the inhumane nature of ignoring this issue and failing to deal with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Racism, Murder, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, and Colonisation

haylethal's review

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Violence, Classism, Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Grief

merrrry's review against another edition

informative sad

4.0

Thoroughly researched, moving, nuanced, and horrifically organized. A beautifully written and highly informative book about a topic I cannot believe people aren't screaming about on the streets everyday. I also learned a lot of unexpected things unrelated to MMIW. From the existence of forensic entomology to the workings of the RCMP to the shortcomings of archiving in policing systems. Reading this made me realize how truly marginalized indigenous people are, and how apathetic I was towards the issues despite being somewhat aware of them. This book was a good reminder that these issues are real and harming people everyday. I definitely will be doing more reading and learning surrounding indigenous peoples in Canada. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Grief, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Racism, Murder, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Death, Colonisation, and Bullying

empusa's review against another edition

informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Drug abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

xtine_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, Violence, Death, and Sexual violence