Last December we wrote about Human Rights and Aboriginal Women in Canada, a topic we would like to re-visit today in honour of Aboriginal Awareness Week. Aboriginal women continue to experience violence at a rate higher than any other group of women in Canada. They are 5 times more likely to die as a result of violence and 3.5 times more likely to experience spousal abuse than non-Aboriginal women. Rather than looking at violence against Aboriginal women as an individual problem, Canadians must recognize it as the deep structural problem it is – created through years of colonialism, racism and genocide.
According to the Native Women’s Association of Canada, more than 580 Aboriginal women and girls have gone missing or have been murdered in Canada. Most of these murders have happened in the past two decades and nearly half of these cases remain unsolved. Amnesty International’s Stolen Sisters Report, released in 2004 remains one of the most comprehensive pieces of literature to address this very serious issue.
(image from aaron.resist.ca)
At Nellie’s we believe that acknowledgement is the first step towards healing and we are committed to bringing awareness to the issue of violence against Aboriginal women and children as well as supporting them on their journey towards a life free from violence. As part of our programming, we attend First Nations events including the Stolen Sisters march and vigil every October 4th. Staff and clients also participate in ongoing anti-racism training to increase awareness and understanding of the issues Aboriginal women and children face as a result of colonialism and racism in Canada.
In 2010, the Native Women’s Association of Canada released a community resource guide “What Can I Do to Help the Families of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls?” . The guide includes comprehensive information about how you can get started as an advocate and raise awareness about the issue of violence against Aboriginal women. Also included in the guide is information for service providers about how to support the families of murdered women as well as resources for teachers and educators.
As Aboriginal Awareness Week comes to a close, we encourage everyone to remember the missing and murdered Aboriginal women who have been taken from us and to pledge your support to keep this important issue circulating in the media, online, and in our own personal conversations so that we do not lose any more sisters.
