FONESSA Bruyere will forever be known as the dead sex-trade worker whose decomposing body was found in a remote field on the outskirts of Winnipeg.
Her murder, following on the heels of Aynsley Kinch's death and discovery in the same location, has led to speculation there's a serial killer preying on local street workers. It's an argument bolstered by the fact that there are now 19 unsolved homicides involving women and men who were either sex-trade workers or who may have been mistaken for prostitutes; of these, nine of them have been found dead in a large area northwest of Winnipeg.
Fonessa Lynn Bruyere’s body is the ninth linked to the sex trade and found in a large area northwest of the city.
Yesterday, Winnipeg police emphatically denied there is anything linking the murders.
But Bruyere wasn't just a prostitute. That's not the important part of the story.
She was a child.
And this is what needs to be examined. At 17, she should have been in school. She should have been getting ready for Grade 12, for sleepovers with girlfriends, for worries about what to wear and what to post on Facebook.
She shouldn't have been last seen getting into a stranger's vehicle, making a financial arrangement and driving away.
Child prostitution is this city's ugly secret. Drive down certain streets in Winnipeg and you'll see young teens nervously walking stretches of pavement. You'll see cars slowing down, men rolling down windows, children clambering into cars.
This isn't prostitution. This is child sexual abuse. Let's call it what it is.
Due to this country's ridiculously low age of sexual consent, it is legal to have sex with a child the day she turns 14. If it is a commercial exchange, if you sidle up to her and offer her 20 bucks in exchange for a sex act, she must be 18.
Clearly, that's not slowing down the brisk business of buying children's bodies.
The average "sex-trade consumer," according to police spokesman Sgt. Kelly Dennison, is a middle-aged man who doesn't live in the area where he purchases sex, who is employed and who is involved in a relationship. Some of these men, according to street lore, cruise in cars that hold baby seats.
That may be an urban legend. The truth is there are enough clients to warrant drug dealers and pimps turning out kids who are just finishing up elementary school.
Gloria Enns is the program manager at Sage House, a drop-in and outreach program for street-involved women. She says there's a dearth of programs to help kids who are led into prostitution.
"There's no 24/7 safe house that can pick up sexually exploited children," Enns says. "I don't think it's possible for a teenager to protect herself from all the forces that are out there."
While Enns could not discuss Fonessa Bruyere specifically, she says society fails kids who end up selling their bodies.
"I don't think society protected her or many others," Enns says. "I think there needs to be a really big effort to close the gaps in the system. If she wasn't going to school, when did she drop out? What efforts were made to help her? Were there outreach workers? Did someone contact CFS or the police to report she was on the street?
"There isn't currently a place to take these kids. There needs to be a place that is warm and nurturing and safe."
Yes, parents should be responsible for their children. No, some parents just aren't capable, don't give a damn or are hopeless addicts. This is what home is like for some Winnipeg kids.
Enns says she tries to send a strong message to other people involved in the sex trade.
"There's no way to sugar-coat it to say the streets were unsafe for this one but they're safe for you. It isn't safe to stand on a street corner. It's not safe to get in a stranger's car. Drug dealers are not your friend."
Neither are johns who will spend their money stripping the innocence from an adolescent.
Fonessa Bruyere's future -- and her childhood -- ended in a remote field on the outskirts of Winnipeg. She is not just another dead sex-trade worker. She was still a child.
lindor.reynolds@freepress.mb.ca
Lindor Reynolds blogs at www.winnipegfreepress.com
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