CANADA
CBC News
By Jody Porter, CBC News
A sexual abuse survivor wants a new documentary about his abuser, Ralph Rowe, to be a step towards reconciliation between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples in northern Ontario.
Joshua Frogg is one of an estimated 500 victims of the former Anglican priest who flew his own plane into remote First Nations in the 1970s and 80s. Rowe has been convicted of nearly 60 sex crimes.
Frogg’s own journey to healing from the abuse is chronicled in a new documentary, Survivors Rowe, that had a special screening at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay on Monday.
“People should be aware of why there is so much alcoholism, there’s so much drug use, there’s so much negative social impacts in our communities,” Frogg said. “It’s a result of issues that happened when we were children, issues of sexual abuse, issues of violence.”
A total of nearly 300 people in Thunder Bay saw the documentary, Survivors Rowe, at two separate screenings this week. It’s now off to Ottawa where some MPs will watch it. (Loud Roar Productions)
Frogg watched the film at a public showing in Thunder Bay on Saturday and joined the audience of about 100 people at the university on Monday.
“I thought it would get easier watching it, but it isn’t,” he said.
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