Background:
Research shows that Aboriginal women are more likely than non-Aboriginal women to experience violence by all categories of perpetrators - strangers or acquaintances and within spousal relationships – and that the kinds of violence faced tends to result in more serious harm.1 In addition, Aboriginal women and girls tend to have a higher vulnerability to violence than many non-Aboriginal women and girls, because of some of the underlying social conditions in which they live. The RCMP report on “Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overview” released in May 2014, and prepared with the cooperation of more than 300 police forces across Canada, provided a summary of 1,181 police-reported cases of homicide and unresolved missing reports concerning Aboriginal women and girls in Canada. This report is only one of around 40 reports since the 1996 Royal Commission Report on Aboriginal Peoples that documents concerns about violence against Aboriginal women and girls.
Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments take this situation seriously and have taken action on many fronts to address the violence. Ministers responsible for Justice and Public Safety have publicly stated that violence against Aboriginal women and girls is unacceptable, and that any attitudes or actions that result in violence must be condemned. Recent tragic deaths have brought renewed focus to growing concerns in Canada and beyond, urging that further and immediate action is needed to prevent more lives being lost.
Activities Underway to Prevent and Address Violence Towards Aboriginal women and Girls:
Reports and studies agree that higher levels of violence against Aboriginal women and girls is deeply rooted in the historical treatment and current social and economic conditions of Aboriginal peoples.2 ,3 Aboriginal organizations and communities are leading efforts to address many of these issues, but all levels of government and other key partners must be involved in order to create lasting change. Law enforcement and the justice system are continuing to take action to prevent and respond to violence against Aboriginal women and girls, but other sectors, such as health, education, social services, children and family services, communities, and the private sector are also involved.
Within the area of law enforcement and the justice system, governments have taken a range of actions to address violence against Aboriginal women and girls.
In working to prevent future violence, communities and governments have been working in collaboration to develop culturally-responsive approaches on and off reserve as a primary means of prevention, including:
Where violence has happened, governments have been working with communities to develop culturally-responsive supports and improve services for victims, including:
Governments have also been working to strengthen investigations and develop better integrated responses to coordinate across departments and agencies, including:
Dialogue On The Draft Justice Framework: Preliminary Feedback
In November 2013, FPT Ministers Responsible for Justice and Public Safety publicly released a Draft Justice Framework to Address Violence Against Aboriginal Women and Girls - http://www.scics.gc.ca/english/conferences.asp?a=viewdocument&id=2119 - for discussion with Aboriginal people and other partners. The Draft Justice Framework will be used to guide the development of future collaborative actions to prevent and respond to the violence. Some of these discussions with Aboriginal people and other partners have occurred on a national level, as well as within provinces and territories, and more dialogue is expected to be completed over the next year. Feedback from the discussions will be used to revise the Draft Justice Framework, which Justice Ministers will review at their fall 2015 meeting.
At the time of writing this report, the discussions on the Draft Justice Framework have not been completed; therefore, it is not possible to draw conclusions. The feedback received to date, however, seems to indicate that there is general agreement with many of the suggested justice system priorities. There are also a number of suggestions for changes to the Draft. The following are examples of some of the feedback received at the time of writing this report:
Next Steps for FPT Justice and Public Safety Ministers
Justice and Public Safety Ministers recognize the need for further targeted action to address violence even while discussions about the Draft Justice Framework are underway. Based on what we have heard so far, FPT Ministers Responsible for Justice and Public Safety agree, in the next year, to:
Ministers agree to report back in the fall of 2015 on progress made in these key areas.
2 Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women. (March 2014) Invisible Women: A Call To Action A Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada. 41st Parliament, second session, House of Commons Canada. Retrieved from: http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=6469851
3 Anaya, James. United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, (July 2014) The Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Canada Retrieved from: http://unsr.jamesanaya.org/country-reports/the-situation-of-indigenous-peoples-in-canada