11 Surrey women now report being followed by men in white van

The community activist behind The Kaur Movement says 11 Surrey women have now come to her saying they’ve been followed or harassed by men driving a white van.

Gurpreet Kaur posted on The Kaur Movement’s Instagram Tuesday warning women to beware of the van seen in the Panorama area and near Tamawanis Secondary.

 

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At the time, four women had messaged her about the van, but after the post gained traction several more came forward.

Most recently, a woman told Kaur she and her sister were followed by four men in a white van on Sunday for approximately one hour as they went to Walmart. At one point, the men apparently stopped and said “excuse me” two or three times.

In another incident, a woman was walking her dog near 126th Street and 67th Avenue when someone allegedly exited a white van and tried to grab her and began hitting her dog. Some neighbours were across the street and came running to intervene, and the men apparently drove off.

In one instance, a mother said her child, in Grade 4, was approached near Beaver Creek Elementary by men in a white van who apparently told her to get inside quickly — and the scariest part was they knew the child’s name.

Surrey Schools associate director of communications Ritinder Matthew told Daily Hive the school board is aware of the incident, and RCMP is involved. The school sent a letter home to parents Thursday reminding them to talk with children about “stranger danger.”

Kaur said all the reports about the white van have come from the last two weeks, and the description is the same for all — a white van with two to four men inside. Some women said the vehicle was a white Ram, but none were able to get a licence plate.

“It’s really scary,” Kaur said. “And it’s sad that people have stopped trusting police … It’s come to the point where the community is getting together … but why hasn’t this person been caught yet?”

Surrey RCMP told Daily Hive Thursday that no women have come to them yet with reports of the white van, but the force urged them to do so.

“We have confirmed one file involving a white van, however the cirucmstances of that investigation differ from what is being alleged on social media. At this time we have no reports of a white van following anyone,” a spokesperson said in an email.

The RCMP’s Special Victims Unit has spoken with Kaur, who told them the nature of the incidents but didn’t pass on the women’s names — since her platform is predicated on people being able to safely share stories anonymously.

Kaur said three women who messaged her said they’d called the RCMP’s non-emergency line. Police confirmed in a news release Wednesday that they’re searching their files to see if any recent reports match the information in Kaur’s Instagram post.

In the meantime, Kaur has organized a group of about a dozen men from the community who will come in person if someone reports seeing the van and wants help. She added she’s been criticized online for advising women and girls to be careful when walking outside, but said she’s a realist and believes people should know what’s going on.

“My thing is hey, now if someone sees a white van they’ll look twice and not ignore it,” Kaur said. “There are a lot of people out there that if this happened to them, they keep it to themselves. I’m like hey, come forward and talk about it. And that’s what’s happening right now.”

Kaur runs The Kaur Movement on top of her full-time job. She’s an advocate to end sexual abuse and gender-based violence, as well as for mental health. She collects stories of abuse from victims and shares them anonymously with her 88,000+ followers.

In some cases, she’ll help victims file police reports and may let officers know if multiple women come forward mentioning the same abuser. She also maintains a network of volunteers around the world to meet and assist victims.

Kaur started the Instagram account back in 2019 based on a personal experience and was anonymous for the first six months. She changed its name to The Kaur Project after police told her her own case wouldn’t proceed further due to lack of evidence. Her account quickly gained traction with other users messaging her about similar experiences.

She initially focused on the Sikh community, but now that The Kaur Movement has gained so much international recognition she gets messages from people of all kinds of backgrounds and is always willing to help.

“If someone came forward saying ‘Hey, I want to approach my abuser’, I will go do that with them. I’ve taken victims to police stations to file their reports. And if the police don’t do something, then we figure something out,” she said. “I’m an activist for sexual abuse victims.”