Regina resident Freedom Lerat is originally from the Cowessess First Nation. She is a loving mother to four children and chooses to raise them alone for reasons that led to that decision.
“I choose to be a single mother because of the relationships I was in and what I was dealing with,” she said.
Lerat is a survivor of domestic violence of two abusive relationships that shaped her into the resilient woman she is today.
In her first relationship, the abuse started in 2009 after her daughter was born. When the abuse started to affect her children, she decided to leave.
“I remember walking down Dewdney Avenue (with) my oldest (child) … he was carrying his sister and I had (my) other two baby boys (in my arms),” said Lerat. “I happened to look down and I didn’t even have shoes on, and I was covered in blood.”
The second abusive relationship Lerat was in was an eye-opening experience. Lerat broke her silence in 2017 when she took her experience to social media after she was left with four facial fractures and several stitches to her eyebrow.
“I have a plate in my face, holding my eye up. I’m numb and can’t feel anything … just nerve damage from the last cycle of abuse,” she said.
Lerat charged the man, who was charged with assault causing bodily harm in 2017 but it was withdrawn and replaced with aggravated assault, assault and uttering threats.
The accused was then convicted in January 2018 and received a 508-day jail sentence, according to the Regina Provincial Court.
The memories are still etched in the mind of Lerat’s oldest son, Parker.
“It was hard obviously because I was young and seeing (my mom) all messed up,” said Parker. “It wasn’t a pretty sight … but it’s good now especially with not having all those worries now.
Parker has a lot of pride in his mom to have the courage and the strength to leave a painful past behind and to be the strong woman she is today.
“I don’t think a lot of people (can) handle it like she did,” he said. “I think that’s the best thing about her.”
Today, she continues to share her story to inspire others who may experience domestic violence. Leaving those two abusive relationships was worth it in the end but it wasn’t easy.
“It’s hard, I’m not going to lie. It’s going to be one of the hardest things somebody will ever have to do,” said Lerat.
“But you have to do it. Once you’re free, it’s a whole different feeling. You’ll feel so much lighter … but it’s scary and it’s really hard because sometimes you literally will leave with the clothes on your back.”
In 2023, the Regina Police Service (RPS) have responded to 4,755 calls for service related to domestic conflict, which is a 2.3-per cent increase in domestic conflict calls for service.
“This is an average of 18 per day,” RPS stated in an email response. “In 2022 that number from the same time frame, January to mid-September, was 4,646 calls for service.”
RPS said these numbers are high and behind these statistics are real people in the community.
“As a police service, every day we see, first-hand, the devastating effects of domestic conflict and we want to do what we can to help those experiencing it,” RPS stated.