It was 53 years ago this year that Linda Pharand was raped, severely beaten and left for dead by a stranger while she was walking home on Leslie Street, in the Flour Mill area of Sudbury.
No arrest was ever made.
“He thought I was dead, but I gave him a surprise,” Linda said. “I’m here.”
Just 16 years old when she was assaulted on Oct. 18, 1970, Linda, who’s now aged 69, has lived with lifelong ramifications of what happened that terrible night, far in the past.
The physical trauma left her suffering from memory loss and her face partially paralyzed, while the emotional trauma affected her mental health and relationships.
Through counselling, though, she found some peace in later life, and said she is feeling good these days. “I am taking great care of myself,” Linda said, sharing that she keeps busy through her hobbies of sewing and embroidery.
A decade ago, in the late fall of 2013, Linda invited a couple of Sudbury media outlets to tell her story. That included Northern Life, Sudbury.com’s predecessor print publication. You can view our 2013 article here, which shares a more detailed version of the story of her assault.
It was through that initial sharing of her story with the public that Linda decided to write her memoirs.
With the help of the francophone sexual assault survivor agency Centre Victoria pour Femmes, of which she is a long-time client, Linda’s story is now being told along with those of other sexual assault survivors in a book.
The book, called “My Strength, My Power,” is being launched Monday, Dec. 11. The launch event takes place from 5-7 p.m. at the Northern Water Sports Centre.
Linda said she’s very nervous but excited about the book launch, and said she has family coming from out of town to attend the event.
The act of writing her memoirs has helped her to heal.
“I used to be very angry,” Linda said. “While I was writing, I was mad at the one who did this to me. I said I might as well forgive you, because if I’m going to stay mad at you, and always get angry, it’s not going to help me. With this, it really, really gave me the strength to do it.”
Still, she said she’s sick of hearing people tell her to “get over it,” and wants people to know what she and other sexual assault survivors have gone through. “It’s my life, it’s my story, and really, I wanted to share it with other people,” Linda said.
“I hope people are going to read it, and I hope people are going to realize that you don’t do what this creep did to me,” she added.
Linda also hopes other sexual assault survivors use this as inspiration to write their own stories.
“If they read this book, it’s going to give them the strength to do something,” she said, adding that if you’re a sexual assault survivor, sharing your story “is the most important thing to do.”
Centre Victoria pour Femmes executive director Gaetane Pharand said she knew Linda was working on her memoirs, but it was a “long and protracted process.”
The agency took it upon themselves to see that Linda’s memoirs eventually made it into print. They had her story translated from English into French, as the memoirs had been hand-written in English.
Because Linda’s story wasn’t overly long, Centre Victoria pour Femmes then decided to ask 15 other clients to write 500 words with their own stories, which now appear in the bilingual, self-published book “My Strength, My Power.”
The idea was to have one testimony per day for each of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, which runs Nov. 25 to Dec. 10.
“It is impossible for an organization like ours, which strives to support women in their healing journey, to say no to such a convincing woman as Linda,” Gaetane said in an email to Sudbury.com.
“Her lived experience needed to be told again, because since 1970, when Linda was raped and assaulted, women from all over have been and are living with similar experiences.
“Who better to give hope than Linda and 15 other women, with their own perspectives? They are shining a light on one’s capacity to get beyond survival. Linda has thrived in her way and she is a beacon of this light and hope for many others.”
She added that Centre Victoria pour femmes’ “entire essence lies in supporting women in their search for help, well-being, and justice.
“This book, ‘My Strength, My Power,’ exemplifies the core of our mission. With this book's publication and distribution, we hope that women will find the capacity to reach out for help so that their journey may move forward supported and surrounded by love and confidence.”
Gaetane said 150 copies of the book have been printed, and are being handed out for free. A digital version will also be available through Centre Victoria’s website.
If you’d like to get a copy of “My Strength, My Power,” attend the book launch or contact Centre Victoria pour Femmes.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor.
