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Stolen Sisters: Frequently Asked Questions
This report is about understanding and preventing the violence that is being carried out against Indigenous women in cities and towns across Canada. The report tells the stories of a number of Indigenous women and girls who have been murdered or who have disappeared from cities in western Canada. Their stories illustrate three main themes: 1) the heightened threat of violence created by the social and economic marginalization of Indigenous women within Canadian society; 2) the frequent failure of police and the justice system to provide adequate protection to Indigenous women 3) evidence that some men are exploiting this vulnerability to specifically target Indigenous women for acts of extreme brutality. Why is Amnesty International focusing on this issue, and why now? In preparing this report, Amnesty International has heard from Indigenous families from across the country who are concerned that they have not received an adequate or compassionate response from authorities when their loved ones went missing or were killed. We have seen unimplemented high level government commission recommendations, such as those to reduce the marginalization of Indigenous women and girls, and thus reduce their vulnerability to violence. Situations and examples like these illustrate a hidden tragedy that has not received due attention – this is clearly unacceptable. This is not Amnesty International’s first foray into Indigenous human rights issues in Canada. We have long been a part of the call for a public inquiry into the police killing of Dudley George. We have also supported the call for the just resolution of the Lubicon Cree land dispute. However, we do anticipate that our research and campaigning on the ‘Stolen Sisters’ project will be of much higher profile. As part of an ongoing international campaign to stop violence against women, Amnesty International is standing with Indigenous women in Canada in saying it’s time for action. How extensive is violence against Indigenous women in Canadian towns and cities? The problem is that no one knows for sure how many women have been murdered or gone missing because of too many gaps in police reporting and government analysis of violent crimes against Indigenous women. It is Amnesty’s view, however, that thousands of lives are at risk. Indigenous women in Canada face an extraordinarily high rate of violence. One 1996 statistic says Indigenous women between the ages of 25 and 44 with status under the federal Indian act are five times more likely to die a violent death than all other women. While some of this violence is family violence within Indigenous communities – an important issue that has also not received the attention it deserves – there are growing number of cases on the public record of Indigenous women living in predominantly non-Indigenous communities who have been murdered or have gone missing under circumstances that suggest they may have been the victims of violent crimes. The way in which many Indigenous women have been uprooted from their families and communities and marginalized in Canadian cities places a great many of them at heightened risk of violence. Is violence against Indigenous women in Canadian cities a new issue? Certainly not. The patterns of discrimination and marginalization that lead to heightened risk of violence against Indigenous women are long standing. In our report, we point to the Manitoba Justice Inquiry conclusion that the RCMP was aware of a pattern of white men preying upon Indigenous women in The Pas, Manitoba before the abduction and murder of Helen Betty Osborne in 1971. In the Inquiry’s words, the RCMP “did not feel that the practice necessitated any particular vigilance.” It is true that there is a new growth of attention to the issue, largely through the efforts of Indigenous women’s organizations. Who is responsible for the violence discussed in the report? While the report concerns crimes carried out by individual men, the report emphasizes that all levels of government must exercise to take every reasonable precaution to prevent such violence. By not doing enough to prevent violence against Indigenous women, Canadian officials share in the responsibility for the human rights violations that have been inflicted upon dozens, if not hundreds, of Indigenous women and their families. What is Amnesty International calling for? We want Canadian authorities to ensure comprehensive reporting and analysis of violence against Indigenous women so that the problem can be better understood and preventive measures taken. We want all levels of government to take action based on what we already know about the critical factors placing Indigenous women at risk. We want to see steps taken to address the immediate threat to those women whose lives are at greatest risk. This includes developing protocols in cooperation with Indigenous communities to ensure appropriate and effective police response to reports of missing Indigenous women and children. It includes an assurance that police, in any dealing with women in the sex trade, make their top priority the respect and protection of those women’s safety and human rights. It also includes ensuring adequate, long-term funding for frontline services needed by women to escape violence. We want to see overall reforms in policing that will build better relations between police and Indigenous communities. We want governments to undertake long overdue policy reform to address the social and economic marginalization of Indigenous women. This includes upholding and implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Indigenous Peoples as called for by numerous United Nations human rights bodies. We want to see broad inter-agency commitment to ensuring the full participation of Indigenous women in the design and implementation of the policies that directly affect their welfare. How will Amnesty International campaign on these recommendations? Amnesty members around the world will be writing letters to the Canadian government to call for action. We will continue to dialogue with Canadian officials, Canadian police forces and with Indigenous organizations to pursue a broad framework for action. In many communities, there will be a need for more specific and concrete reforms. Organizations that work for women’s safety on the front-lines on a daily basis are often best placed to assess exactly what’s needed – we will strongly encourage the Canadian government to support these organizations and to hear what they have to say about what needs to be done. We will be calling upon two Special Rapporteurs within the United Nations human rights system, the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, to work together to undertake joint investigations into violence against Indigenous women around the world, including in Canada. What kind of follow-up is Amnesty International planning? The launch of this report is the beginning. We plan to assess the impact in Canada of this report and look forward to hearing how it is received by other organizations and police forces. We are committed to maintaining pressure on Canadian officials until they implement the reforms that are so urgently needed to ensure the safety of Indigenous women in Canada.
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