Missing And Murdered: The Current Status of Aboriginal Women In Canada and What’s Being Done (Or Not Done) About It
by Alexandra Lamb
Prior to 2012, First Nations communities across the country believed that there were
roughly six hundred cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. A shocking
RCMP report that year revealed that there were actually 1182 cases of murdered and missing
women reported between 1980 and 2012.
Various indigenous, social and human rights groups including the United Nations,
Amnesty International, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, and the Assembly of First
Nations, immediately called for an inquiry into the missing and murdered women, hoping to see
some government action on resolving the cases and improving the status of First Nations
peoples. Yet Prime Minister Stephen Harper refused the inquiry, and said numerous times that
these cases were ‘not high on his radar.’ On June 19th, 2015, the RCMP announced that they
were no longer trying to track the murdered and missing Aboriginal women across Canada.
This apathy from our country’s authorities has horrified many Canadian citizens.
Numerous campaigns have risen to help raise awareness about the issue of the missing and
murdered women, such as Amnesty International’s No More Stolen Sisters campaign. Their
website provides extensive information about the various causes of the issue, its effects, and
proposed solutions to ending the violence.
The UN has also conducted its own investigation into the status of Aboriginal women in
Canada. Their 2015 report stated young aboriginal women are five times more likely to die
under violent circumstances than non-aboriginal women, and is continuing to push for the
inquiry.
Campaigns and rallies, primarily organized by indigenous women, are held frequently
nationwide to bring attention to the issue. A recent example of the kind would be Vancouver’s
Candlelight Vigil on October 4. Held at the City Hall, a group of First Nations women, including
many relatives of the missing and murdered, assembled an evening of powerful speeches and
dynamic song performances in honour of their lost loved ones.
Some First Nations communities have taken the matter into their own hands, stating that
the next federal election is too long a wait to bring justice to the lives of their loved mothers,
daughters and sisters. An Ontario First Nations group is launching their own inquiry into the
murdered and missing women, which will be paid for by public donations made online over a
website called Who Is She.
But despite the public’s powerful reaction, the Conservative government will still not do
anything about the case. Harper has stated that the cause of the issue is domestic abuse and
violence within the First Nations community, that the inquiry would not bring about any
information we didn’t already know, and that it would not be worth the eight hundred millions
dollars it has been estimated to cost.
He believes a better approach to solving the issue is strict punishment towards convicted
criminals found guilty of these crimes, instead of the systematic approach the inquiry would
provide.
The Conservatives are currently the only political party in Canada opposed to the inquiry.
The NDP leader Tom Mulcair has been particularly concerned about it, saying he would launch
the inquiry within the first hundred days of his term if he is elected. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau
and Green Party leader Elizabeth May have also stressed the inquiry’s importance, and have
declared they would perform it if elected.
The inquiry would provide the government with the proof and research necessary for
them to put together a stable and effective National Action Plan. The creation of the plan would
involve indigenous organizations, and would provide a direction for the improvement of not only
aboriginal women, but for the welfare of their community as a whole. It would address
inadequacies in current government policies, identify solutions to ending violence against
women, would make sure that all aboriginal people had access to proper social services
including social workers, proper education, health care, housing and emergency shelters, and
would ensure that the proper policies would be carried out in the cases of missing and murdered
aboriginal women.
There are several things that you can do on your part to help resolve the issue. Many
petitions are circulating online, calling to our country’s leaders to show the concern for our
missing and murdered aboriginal women that they deserve and to host the inquiry. You can also
show your support for the community in person by attending one of their rallies or events. But
the most effective thing you can do is to continue to help draw attention to the issue, to raise
awareness about it via your social media or by talking to your friends and family. Injustice thrives
off ignorance, and the more we all know about what is happening, the less likely we are to allow
it to happen.
I would like to dedicate this article to the memory of my beloved aunt Hilary. While not
among the twelve hundred murdered and missing, she, as an aboriginal woman, was affected in
her lifetime by the same domestic abuse, hardships and discrimination as they did, and passed
away under mysterious circumstances which have not been resolved to my satisfaction. I miss
her dearly.
roughly six hundred cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. A shocking
RCMP report that year revealed that there were actually 1182 cases of murdered and missing
women reported between 1980 and 2012.
Various indigenous, social and human rights groups including the United Nations,
Amnesty International, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, and the Assembly of First
Nations, immediately called for an inquiry into the missing and murdered women, hoping to see
some government action on resolving the cases and improving the status of First Nations
peoples. Yet Prime Minister Stephen Harper refused the inquiry, and said numerous times that
these cases were ‘not high on his radar.’ On June 19th, 2015, the RCMP announced that they
were no longer trying to track the murdered and missing Aboriginal women across Canada.
This apathy from our country’s authorities has horrified many Canadian citizens.
Numerous campaigns have risen to help raise awareness about the issue of the missing and
murdered women, such as Amnesty International’s No More Stolen Sisters campaign. Their
website provides extensive information about the various causes of the issue, its effects, and
proposed solutions to ending the violence.
The UN has also conducted its own investigation into the status of Aboriginal women in
Canada. Their 2015 report stated young aboriginal women are five times more likely to die
under violent circumstances than non-aboriginal women, and is continuing to push for the
inquiry.
Campaigns and rallies, primarily organized by indigenous women, are held frequently
nationwide to bring attention to the issue. A recent example of the kind would be Vancouver’s
Candlelight Vigil on October 4. Held at the City Hall, a group of First Nations women, including
many relatives of the missing and murdered, assembled an evening of powerful speeches and
dynamic song performances in honour of their lost loved ones.
Some First Nations communities have taken the matter into their own hands, stating that
the next federal election is too long a wait to bring justice to the lives of their loved mothers,
daughters and sisters. An Ontario First Nations group is launching their own inquiry into the
murdered and missing women, which will be paid for by public donations made online over a
website called Who Is She.
But despite the public’s powerful reaction, the Conservative government will still not do
anything about the case. Harper has stated that the cause of the issue is domestic abuse and
violence within the First Nations community, that the inquiry would not bring about any
information we didn’t already know, and that it would not be worth the eight hundred millions
dollars it has been estimated to cost.
He believes a better approach to solving the issue is strict punishment towards convicted
criminals found guilty of these crimes, instead of the systematic approach the inquiry would
provide.
The Conservatives are currently the only political party in Canada opposed to the inquiry.
The NDP leader Tom Mulcair has been particularly concerned about it, saying he would launch
the inquiry within the first hundred days of his term if he is elected. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau
and Green Party leader Elizabeth May have also stressed the inquiry’s importance, and have
declared they would perform it if elected.
The inquiry would provide the government with the proof and research necessary for
them to put together a stable and effective National Action Plan. The creation of the plan would
involve indigenous organizations, and would provide a direction for the improvement of not only
aboriginal women, but for the welfare of their community as a whole. It would address
inadequacies in current government policies, identify solutions to ending violence against
women, would make sure that all aboriginal people had access to proper social services
including social workers, proper education, health care, housing and emergency shelters, and
would ensure that the proper policies would be carried out in the cases of missing and murdered
aboriginal women.
There are several things that you can do on your part to help resolve the issue. Many
petitions are circulating online, calling to our country’s leaders to show the concern for our
missing and murdered aboriginal women that they deserve and to host the inquiry. You can also
show your support for the community in person by attending one of their rallies or events. But
the most effective thing you can do is to continue to help draw attention to the issue, to raise
awareness about it via your social media or by talking to your friends and family. Injustice thrives
off ignorance, and the more we all know about what is happening, the less likely we are to allow
it to happen.
I would like to dedicate this article to the memory of my beloved aunt Hilary. While not
among the twelve hundred murdered and missing, she, as an aboriginal woman, was affected in
her lifetime by the same domestic abuse, hardships and discrimination as they did, and passed
away under mysterious circumstances which have not been resolved to my satisfaction. I miss
her dearly.