Breaking through the silence

2026 Certificate of Merit Winner with World Press Freedom Canada

Hanna Kelley remembers waking up to bright, fluorescent lights shining down on her, the room spinning every time she tried to get up. A nurse told her she had a concussion. That part made sense. What didn’t make sense, though, was the terrifying realization that she couldn’t move her legs.

Kelley endured 10 months of repeated sexual assault at the hands of her superior at work. After police ignored her reports, she says, the sexual assault escalated into a violent attack that left her with limited mobility, struggling with short-term memory loss and an inability to support herself.

Despite the severity of his actions, the man responsible for the attack never spent a day behind bars.