Stolen Sisters: No more Indigenous women lost to violence
Posted on: 02/10/08

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“Families like mine all over Canada are wondering how many more sisters and daughters we have to lose before real government action is taken.”

These are the words of Darlene Osborne of the Norway House Cree First Nation in northern Manitoba.

Darlene's family has known terrible tragedy.

In 1971, nineteen-year-old Helen Betty Osborne was abducted by four white men The Pas, Manitoba. She was raped and murdered in a brutal crime a judge later called " a racist and sexist act."

Three decades later, in March 2003, Felicia Solomon, a sixteen-year-old cousin of Helen Betty Osborne, went missing in Winnipeg. Family members expressed frustration that police were slow to respond to the disappearance of this high school student. The first missing persons posters were distributed by her family, not the police. Three months later it was determined that Felicia had been murdered. No one has ever been charged with the crime.

The role of racism and discrimination in violence against Indigenous women has been documented by Amnesty International in our Stolen Sisters report. And it has been acknowledged by police and government officials. But not enough is being done to stop these racist and sexist attacks.

These terrible crimes are part of long-standing and deep-rooted patterns of discrimination and impoverishment that put so many Indigenous women and girls in harm’s way. According to a government statistic, young Indigenous women are five times more likely than other women of the same age to die as the result of violence.

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Amnesty International's concerns for the rights of Indigenous peoples

There are over 370 million Indigenous people worldwide. They are often among the most marginalized and frequently victimized sectors of society. A long history of dispossession, and ongoing discrimination at all levels of society, has led to widespread impoverishment, ill-health and homelessness.

Indigenous women face a double burden of discrimination. With the loss of traditional ways of life, indigenous women often lose status in their own societies. Frustration and strife in the community is mirrored by violence in the household. For the growing numbers of indigenous women who have migrated to urban settings, racism and discrimination in the larger society leads to a heightened risk of violence as well as unequal access to the protection of the police and courts.

Amnesty International is currently campaigning globally to strengthen the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 2007 after more than two decades of negotiation and debate. It makes a unique and much needed contribution to the survival and well-being of some of the world's most marginalized and frequently victimized peoples by affirming a wide range of rights, including the right of self-determination, land rights, rights to cultural identity, and protection against violence and discrimination.

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