Snatched away
The Indigenous women taken on the Highway of Tears.
In this six-part series, Al Jazeera tells the stories of some of the Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered along an infamous stretch of highway in British Columbia, Canada.
Warning: This article recounts scenes of sexual assault that some readers may find distressing or triggering.
British Columbia, Canada - Jennie* jumps out of bed gasping for air. She can hear the sound of twigs crunching and her own desperate screams. Sometimes she kicks and punches. The commotion wakes her husband, who tries to comfort her, to let her know she is safe.
She never knows when the nightmares will come. But when they do, they overwhelm her.
“I tried to get away, tried to scream, to do anything,” the 29-year-old explains as she recounts the events of 10 years ago that play out - over and over again - when she sleeps. “But I was just in shock.”