Another woman accuses former head of Manitoba Inuit Association of sexual assault
CBC
WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
When Alexia Cousins lit the traditional Inuit oil lamp at a Dec. 6 ceremony marking the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, it gave her courage to come forward with her own accusations of sexual assault, she says.
"It felt like that was the right thing for me to do, to be able to show others there that we can carry on, that there is life," Cousins said in a recent interview from Iqaluit.
"The more we speak out, the less it could happen."
Cousins says she has filed a sexual assault complaint with Iqaluit RCMP against Nastania Mullin, the former CEO of the Manitoba Inuit Association.
CBC has also seen the contents of a complaint submitted to the Nunavut Law Society.
Cousins was 15 and believes Mullin was one to two years older when they started spending more time together as part of a peer sexual health education group in high school.
They had a casual, on-and-off relationship, and when she was 16, she became pregnant with Mullin's child.
"I gave birth three weeks after my 17th birthday, in end of September 2005," Cousins said, adding the couple was not dating at the time.
While she describes their relationship as mostly consensual, she says there were times when she felt manipulated or guilted into things she didn’t want to do.
"There was two instances, I realize now, of sexual abuse where I was coerced, or where I feel like I couldn't say no," she said.
As a single mother, Cousins said she finished high school and worked hard to raise their now 20-year-old daughter, Cassiar, who has given permission to be identified.
Cousins says she and Mullin unofficially shared custody of their daughter for a few years, starting when Cassiar was eight.
But she says Mullin's role in the young woman’s life has been "minimal," and there’s been little interaction between Cassiar and Mullin since Cassiar cut off ties with him seven years ago.
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