Breaking the Silence:
Aboriginal women and the right to peace,
security and freedom from violence
November 2014
Overview of Presentation
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Native Women’s Association of Canada
Missing and Murdered Aboriginal women in Canada
Experiences of Aboriginal women and girls
“Over-policed and under-protected”
Intersections of race, sex, and class
Trafficking of Aboriginal Women and Girls
Evidence to Action: Using knowledge to inform
change
Native Women’s
Association of Canada
• National voice of Aboriginal
women in Canada
• Incorporated in 1974
• Our membership consists of
a network of 12
Provincial/Territorial
Associations from across
Canada
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Why Are Aboriginal Women
at Risk?
Violence and Victimization
• Violence can take on many forms: physical,
sexual, emotional, psychological, spiritual,
cultural, and financial.
• It often results in vulnerability and self-harm
(depression, cycle of violence, alcohol and
drug abuse, suicide).
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Experiences of Violence
• Aboriginal women are 8 times more likely to
be killed than non-Aboriginal women.
• Rates of spousal assault are more than 3
times higher than non-Aboriginal women.
(Spouse is not necessarily Aboriginal).
• More severe and potentially life-threatening
forms of spousal violence (54% versus 37%
of non-Aboriginal women).
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The UNTOLD Image in Canada
• “It is Aboriginal girls and women who
are specifically targeted in this country
to be trafficked, in such huge numbers
that it does not compare to other
populations.”
• “The average age of girls being
trafficked are between the ages of 7 –
12 years old.”
– Jo-Ann Daniels, interim Executive Director for the Métis
Settlements General Council in Edmonton
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Trafficking of Aboriginal
Women & Girls
• “Studies on human trafficking in Canada conclude that the
majority of people trafficked within Canada are Aboriginal
women and children victims of sex trafficking” (Barrett,
2010, p. iii)
• Real consent requires: “Physical safety, equal power with
customers, and real alternatives” (Farley, et al., 2003, p.
65)
• Most women being prostituted and trafficked are dealing
with life histories of repeated traumas and lack the
education and job skills needed for alternative incomes
Experiences of Trafficked and
Prostituted Aboriginal women
• 79% had been abused as children (on average by 4 perpetrators).
• Over two thirds of the women had family who had attended boarding
schools.
• 92% had been raped.
• 84% had been physically assaulted.
• 72% experienced traumatic brain injuries in prostitution.
• 98% were either currently or previously homeless.
• 52% at the time of the interview had PTSD; 71% had symptoms of
dissociation.
• 80% had used outpatient substance abuse services; 77% had used
homeless shelters; 65% had used domestic violence services; and 33% had
used sexual assault services.
• 92% wanted to escape prostitution.
(Farley et al, 2011, p. 3)
Recommendations from
NWAC’s Research
• “We want to see that there is a light at the end of
the tunnel. We want change.” – Experiential
Survivor
• Women who have been prostituted and trafficked
require a comprehensive response including:
Safe housing (away from gang activity/drug
selling); substance abuse treatment; funding for
women-only services; funding for education &
employment training; funding for long-term
counselling, etc. (NWAC report, 2014)
Preventative Measures
Against Trafficking
• NWAC has found that women and girls who experienced
sexual exploitation later identify that they had little exposure
to healthy relationships and options for actions if they faced
sexual aggression.
• Girls AND boys need education on healthy
relationships/healthy touching and respectful treatment.
• Teachers/school administrators need training to identify signs
of sexual exploitation and need to be provided with resources
for intervention.
• Aboriginal girls and women need support for their own
empowerment and to inspire them with hope for the future:
including programs and services that allow them to stay in
school and foster their self-esteem, worth, and confidence.
Community-Based Solutions
• “We need programs to reduce school dropout
rates and develop economic opportunities in
Aboriginal communities; raise public awareness
of human trafficking for Aboriginal leaders,
government officials, and the public; and
support and strengthen Aboriginal family and
community networks, such as survivor-led
shelters, transition programs and specialized
services for Aboriginal women and children
vulnerable to trafficking.” (Barrett, 2010, p. iii)
NWAC has continued to Fill a
Knowledge Gap by:
• Looking beyond academic literature focused
on domestic violence and identifying violence
rooted in the systemic, gendered racism that
Aboriginal women face.
• Gathering comprehensive evidence to support
reports from families and communities.
• Exposing how the police and justice systems
have responded to women? Families?
• Identifying some solutions to be implemented.
Impacts of colonization
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Indian Act, 1876
Residential Schools
The “60’s Scoop”
Ongoing child apprehension
High rates of incarceration
Ongoing Impacts of Inter-generational
Trauma
• Impact of the residential school experience:
forced loss of culture, language and
traditional values, sexual abuse, difficulty
bonding with others and in forming
relationships, lack of parenting and life skills,
loss of self-respect/respect for others, use of
drugs and alcohol to cope with painful
memories; and
• More than 40% of Aboriginal women in prison
have been to Indian Residential Schools; more
than that have been placed in care or have
parents who went to Indian Residential Schools.
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Sisters In Spirit
In 2005 NWAC began to raise awareness of violence against
Aboriginal women. But the voices of families and communities
needed were being ignored, and the justice system was failing our
people.
From 2005-2010 NWAC began to document all the known cases of
missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada. We
discovered 582 beautiful women who’ve been lost.
In 2014, the RCMP released their report, documenting 1,181
Aboriginal women had gone missing or been murdered. There are
likely more but their ethnicity was not known or recorded when
they went missing or were murdered.
• Police-recorded incidents of Aboriginal female homicides and
unresolved missing Aboriginal females in this review total 1,181 - 164
missing and 1,017 homicide victims.
• There are 225 unsolved cases of either missing or murdered
Aboriginal females: 105 missing for more than 30 days as of
November 4, 2013, whose cause of disappearance was categorized at
the time as “unknown” or “foul play suspected” and 120 unsolved
homicides between 1980 and 2012.
We must remember that a beautiful woman is
represented by every number shared in this
presentation, that each statistic tells a story.
NWAC’s Research: Aboriginal Women and
Girls More Likely to be Killed by a Stranger or
Acquaintance
Relationship of Suspects to Homicide Victims in SIS Database, 2010
Relationship
No.
%
Partner
45
17.2%
Ex-partner
14
5.4%
Family, including all types of family relationships
'John' or other criminal relationship
15
4
5.7%
1.5%
Acquaintance
45
17.2%
Stranger
43
16.5%
Unknown relationship
95
36.4%
Total
261
100.0%
Source: Calculations by NWAC using data from the SIS database, 2010.
“Over-Policed and Under Protected”
• Aboriginal Peoples in the
justice system are classified
as higher risk and higher
need.
• One out of three (33.1%) new
female offenders in the
federal corrections system
are Aboriginal.
• Disproportionate number of
missing and murdered
women in Canada are
Aboriginal.
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Evidence to Action - What
Have
We
Learned?
Need to continue to improve the socio-economic outcomes
for Aboriginal women and families.
Policy MUST be informed by evidence and by those that
are impacted by it.
We can’t do it alone – we need all levels of government, all
justice officials, allies, partners, etc. need to work together
Leadership at all levels of Government needs to speak out.
Men must take a stand and be part of the solution.
Urgent need for a National Public Inquiry and
implementation of a comprehensive Plan of Action to
address the root causes, prevent violence, and quickly
investigate and solve cases.
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Why support a National Public
Inquiry?
• A National Public Inquiry would enable the federal government—and, if
it was constituted as a joint inquiry, then also the provincial and
territorial governments—to conduct a comprehensive national
investigation into violence against Aboriginal women and girls in
Canada.
• A National Public Inquiry would support a comprehensive investigation
that considers the overlapping responsibilities of all levels of
government. It is hoped that this would provide an independent,
unbiased and public review that addresses the crisis of confidence felt
in the Aboriginal communities in relation to government responses to
violence against Aboriginal women and girls.
• It could increase public awareness of this human rights crisis in terms of
its lack of safety and protection of Aboriginal women in Canada and
provide assurance to Aboriginal Peoples that all levels of government
recognize the severity of the issue and are committed to ending these
cycles of violence.
Other Key Findings
1. Canadians have a limited understanding of Aboriginal Peoples,
recent history and the impacts, cultures and approaches to
collaboration.
2. Lack of equal funding to programs and services for Aboriginal
Peoples with other Canadians.
3. Inadequate response to the urban realities and demographics of
Aboriginal Peoples, and the use of piecemeal approaches.
4. Interventions and alternatives for Aboriginal women are limited.
5. When we invest in Aboriginal women in Canada through skills
and development, employment and education, and opportunities
to participate in the economy, we impact their families and
communities.
6. Aboriginal women contribute 90% of their income back to their
families and communities.
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Key Recommendations
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Develop a comprehensive, national strategy with short, medium and
long-term solutions that have been consistently identified over many
years by Aboriginal women and their communities.
Negotiate permanent, realistic and at-parity funding levels for existing
and new programs and services that impact on Aboriginal Peoples.
Improve curricula in all schools to include in-depth training about
Aboriginal Peoples, including the particular situation of Aboriginal
women to help reduce ignorance and racism.
Aboriginal organizations and communities to work with relevant federal
departments and agencies and community stakeholders, to develop a
Federal-wide policy to effectively monitor the implementation of best
practices, measure successes, and progress to date.
NWAC is working to improve the lives of Aboriginal women and families
by providing them with business and networking opportunities through
Aboriginal Women and Business and Entrepreneurship and by
providing them with training, networking, skill-building and financial
literacy. By supporting similar programs, or this program, you can help
contribute to eradicate poverty.
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Change begins with one step…
Merci
Chi-Miigwetch
Nia:wen Ko wa
Thank you
Native Women’s Association of Canada
reception@nwac.ca
613-722-3033
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