This chapter discusses the factors which make Aboriginal women and girls more vulnerable to violence and, more importantly, what needs to be done to prevent this violence from occurring.

The root causes of violence against Aboriginal women and girls are varied, complex, and interrelated. Much of what the Committee heard has been repeatedly identified in other reports: domestic violence, human trafficking, substance abuse, prostitution, poverty, lack of housing and poor living conditions, lack of prevention services such as mental health services, and the ongoing legacy of residential schools. In fact, throughout the study, witnesses have highlighted that much is already known about violence against Aboriginal women. Some said that the question has been “researched to death”.[37] Although we will not go into depth on the social and historical factors which render Aboriginal women so vulnerable to violence some of the key factors are worth noting.

Preventing violence against Aboriginal women and girls requires an acknowledgement of these root causes and a concerted effort to address them. This requires the engagement and determination of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike, as Assistant Commissioner Kevin Brosseau, of the RCMP, highlighted:

[T]he underlying causes … leading to violence are complex and multi-sectoral, and in fact need everyone to be standing shoulder to shoulder and arm in arm to deal with them.[38]

A. THE LEGACY OF RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS

The legacy of residential schools and the mass removal of Aboriginal children from their families by the child protection system in the 1960s have led to a breakdown of the family and the community for many Aboriginal people. This breakdown is manifested in a number of ways, including violence and addiction. Several people spoke about this in their testimony:

Even if we didn't go to the residential schools, our generation, I'm sad to say, is still affected by what happened there. I won't tell you my personal story, but it's everybody's story across Canada for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit women in our generation who are still affected by that era[39].

I think what you're seeing here in listening to all these stories is the direct result of how this country has treated Aboriginal people from the get-go. The rippling effects of residential school, the breakdown of our families, have had a tremendous impact on all of us.[40]

B. POVERTY AND HOUSING

While some First Nations communities are benefiting from economic development, many others experience high levels of poverty. For example, Mary Teegee, Executive Director, Child and Family Services, Carrier Sekani Family Services told the Committee about her community in northern British Columbia where there is a 90% unemployment rate. As she reminded the Committee “We know that's a root cause of violence.” Jeffrey Cyr, Executive Director, National Association of Friendship Centres, also noted that:

[P]overty and social exclusion among the urban aboriginal population in Canada are very serious issues that impact many thousands of children, youth, and single families in their daily lives… Furthermore, poverty and social exclusion are linked to violence in our communities.[41]

Ms. Redsky also discussed the link between poverty and violence during her appearance, noting the following:

[T]here is a strong link, as you are aware, between poverty and violence against women. Of all Aboriginal women, and this is first nation, Métis, and Inuit women, 36% live in poverty. This is much higher than the average of 9% for all Canadians.[42]

The high levels of poverty and lack of housing limit the options available to women experiencing violence. Women are sometimes forced to stay with an abusive partner because they have nowhere else to go. The Committee has heard that those who leave their communities, or leave an abusive household sometimes find themselves homeless, or forced into the sex trade. Irene Goodwin of the NWAC noted:

[S]ocio-economic challenges that can impede their safety and welfare and lead to increased risks of sexual exploitation or human trafficking, or to falling victim to violence that may lead to their disappearance or death.[43]

In the same vein, Marie Sutherland noted:

They come from abusive situations on the reserve, where there is no help for them, so they choose to leave to find a safe place. They meet a man who is very nice to them. The next thing you know, they're using drugs and alcohol, being raped, and being beaten[44].

The Committee heard that the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act, which was brought into force in December 2013, will play an important role in strengthening the rights and protections available to Aboriginal women in the event of a domestic dispute. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth, noted:

   When that act was proclaimed in December — and it was a long time coming — I felt, very much so, that it would create a new remedy, or clarify a remedy, which is a protective order that could be obtained under that act and executed on a reserve to allow women and children to remain in the home, even if they were not, for instance, the holders of a certificate of possession of that property or a location ticket under a reserve Indian Act land system. That legislation is important.[45]

C. RACISM

Racism adds to the vulnerability of Aboriginal women to violence. It shapes the experience people have with services which should help them; shapes the ideas and expectations of service providers, whether or not this is intentional on their part; and it shapes the response of the wider community to incidents of violence

Some witnesses illustrated the painful reality of a larger society which minimizes the experience of missing and murdered Aboriginal women:

We have two missing girls from 2008 and still they're not found. We lost a little baby lion on the reserve two years later. We had a search party. We had the police. We had helicopters. We had game wardens. We had everything. When these two human beings went missing, we had nothing. There were no dogs, no search party, no police, no media. What do we do when this happens? Who do we go to?[46]

In two separate instances in 1994, two 15-year-old indigenous girls, Roxanna Thiara and Alishia Germaine, were found murdered in Prince George. The body of a third 15-year-old indigenous girl, Ramona Wilson, who disappeared that same year, was found in Smithers, in central British Columbia, in April 1995. Only in 2002, after the disappearance of a 26-year-old non-indigenous woman, Nicola Hoar, while hitchhiking along a road that connects Prince George and Smithers, was there media attention all over Canada. Her name was also on a list of the unsolved murders and other disappearances along what has been dubbed the Highway of Tears. But what about the other indigenous girls?[47]

Some witnesses suggested that family members are sometimes not taken seriously because of race-related stereotypes, and that this creates a situation of mistrust between Aboriginal people and the services which are there to provide help. Speaking about her family’s experience with reporting their mother as a missing person, Lorna Martin, daughter of Marie Jean Saint Saveur who was reported missing in Alberta in 1987, told the Committee:

One of the first questions the RCMP asked my sister was if she [my mother] drank. Arlene couldn't deny it. She didn't lie. She said yes. He said, “They go on a drinking binge for two or three days and then they come back”…When you're full of anxiety, you're hurting, it feels like a kick in the stomach or in the head when somebody you're asking for help says something like that. Right away, any chance of trust, any line of communication is.... There's a barrier right there. You might as well put your hand up. There's no help there. They said our mom was a drunken Indian. [48]

Some witnesses expressed they felt that persisting racism was at the root of inaction to address the high levels of violence against Aboriginal women:

I will say, though, that racism is still an active toxin in our society. It remains as a deadly ingredient, responsible for much of the inaction that I think we're all facing right now. I think we stand on a legacy of violence and racism left by colonization and residential schools, but that's not in the past: those attitudes exist today. I can testify, as a front-line worker and as an advocate for over three decades, that I can still see my First Nations sisters being treated differently and being treated with less respect than they deserve. [49]

The Committee recognizes that we all have a responsibility in acknowledging and challenging the racist attitudes which continue to make Aboriginal women and girls more vulnerable to violence.

D. SYSTEMS AND SERVICES THAT ARE FAILING ABORIGINAL WOMEN AND GIRLS

The Committee heard from some witnesses that:

• There are not enough culturally appropriate services for Aboriginal women in urban areas;
• Although they experience higher levels of marginalization, many Aboriginal people live in rural and remote communities where services are not available;

• There are jurisdictional barriers between the various levels of government which result in people falling through the cracks; and

• As a result of their collective experience with the residential school system, there is a high level of distrust between Aboriginal people and services such as the child welfare system and police forces.

As a result, Aboriginal women and girls may not benefit from the level of prevention services which would be warranted by their high level of vulnerability to violence.

The findings of the Committee are consistent with other documented findings related to the way that systems and services are failing Aboriginal women and girls and making them more vulnerable to violence. Committee members and witnesses noted that much of this is widely known and reported. This is certainly the case regarding the need for prevention services. A paper synthesizing the key themes in the literature relating to the root causes and vulnerabilities leading to violence against Aboriginal women that was prepared for the Government of British Columbia in 2011 summarized the situation as follows:

Lack of culturally appropriate, community-based services, particularly in rural and remote communities, also prevents women from leaving abusive relationships and getting the help they need to heal and to establish their independence. Abusive men are equally vulnerable to the same lack of resources and supports as their victims. Distrust of mainstream child welfare and justice systems means that Aboriginal women are reluctant to report family violence and to pursue legal redress. The inadequacy of services is compounded by a lack of integration and coordination between and across funders and providers. The literature draws particular attention to the jurisdictional complexities that prevent comprehensive and seamless provision of services.[50]

The lack of coordination of services among the various levels of government was raised by a number of witnesses. The Committee was reminded of Jordan’s principle, which was unanimously adopted in the House of Commons in 2007. Named after Jordan River Anderson who died while governments disputed his home care expenses, Jordan’s Principle, “ensures that First Nations children receive the health and social services they need in a timely manner even in the face of funding disputes between the federal and provincial governments.”[51] Commenting on the application of Jordan’s Principle, the British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth told the Committee that:

[O]n the ground that's more of a theory than a practice. Frequently, for girls, they're just caught in that situation where everybody apparently has a responsibility, but nobody's on the ground to respond. That type of accountability is needed.[52]

The Committee heard compelling evidence about the importance of investing in Aboriginal children and addressing the gaps in the child welfare system. Cindy Blackstock, Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada reminded the Committee that:

Although we can make the argument that for other children education and child welfare are provincial jurisdictions, for First Nations children the federal government has a direct role in the provision of child welfare for 163,000 children.[53]

The Committee heard that the First Nations child welfare system has failed in many ways and continues to render First Nations children more vulnerable. We were told, among other things,

• First Nations child welfare services are underfunded compared to their provincial equivalents;

• Women sometimes avoid reaching out to supportive services (such as calling the police, or going to a shelter) for fear of having their children apprehended;

• Young women who have gone through the child welfare system are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviour, exposing them to violence; and

• Children often come into the care of child and family services not for abuse, but rather because their families are unable to provide the necessities of life, such as adequate housing.

The Committee heard that “Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada has increased funding for First Nations child and family services dramatically over the past 16 years, from $193 million in 1996–97 to approximately $618 million in funding in 2012–13.” [54]

Furthermore, there is additional support to a prevention-focused approach to child welfare, which is now being implemented in six provinces. The Committee heard that “[u]nder the six current tripartite frameworks, more than $100 million per year in additional ongoing funding is now dedicated to implementing the new approach.”[55]

Despite this increase, First Nations maintain that they still do not have the level of funding which will allow them to do the prevention work which has been a key feature of provincial child welfare systems.

E. AWARENESS-RAISING, EDUCATION AND PREVENTION

Access to a quality primary and secondary education and a safe learning environment were also identified by witnesses to the Committee as key factors in empowering Aboriginal communities to prevent violence against women and children. Ms. Turpel-Lafond noted the Budget 2014 investments in education as a positive development in this regard.

Without a doubt, the [Budget 2014] education investment is a really important one, and as that issue proceeds at the federal level, if there is the ability to get broad-based agreement and have a legislative instrument through the Parliament of Canada, that can allow us to have a more solid footing for that, with greater accountability for outcomes and results, particularly for girls. I think that will be superb, and I think that's a major investment and long overdue. I think everyone will applaud and welcome that.[56]

When talking about education and prevention, it is important to distinguish between the violence that Aboriginal women and girls experience within their communities and the violence they experience at the hands of strangers. One requires education and awareness within Aboriginal communities themselves, while the other requires education and awareness-raising in the larger community. Both are necessary.

1. Awareness-raising and education in the larger community

We have seen the role that racism plays in making Aboriginal women more vulnerable to violence. Earlier in this chapter, we saw how the public outcry to violence against Aboriginal women pales in comparison to the outcry against violence against non-Aboriginal women. Rectifying this requires awareness-raising and education of the non-Aboriginal community, as well as the Aboriginal community. If we fail to do this education piece, the invisibility of Aboriginal women will continue to render them vulnerable to violence. Canadians need to better understand the reality of our Aboriginal peoples, to take responsibility for improving relations with our Aboriginal neighbours, and a growing sensitivity to the ways that our preconceived ideas render them more vulnerable to violence. This means ensuring that there are more culturally relevant programs and service in our communities, and that service providers have received adequate cultural sensitivity training. The Committee has heard that tools have been created for this purpose. For example, NWAC introduced a community resource guide which it created to raise awareness:

[T]his type of tool and resource is being utilized by a wide variety of people. We were surprised, when we did our reporting and looked at the number of people who are accessing it, by the broad range. We have the RCMP in one area utilizing this particular tool and resource to train their cadets, and we also have educators — secondary and public school teachers — who are using this particular resource for informing their student populations, and in particular native studies. We also have victims services looking at this tool. They all use it differently. It's a very, very big resource with a lot of supplemental pieces. [57]

The Committee has also heard that men have a key role to play in preventing violence against women. Aboriginal communities have played a key role in identifying and emphasizing a holistic approach to violence which includes men in finding solutions. Tracy Porteous, Executive Director, Ending Violence Association of British Columbia identified a best practice of men educating other men about violence:

“Be More Than a Bystander: Break the Silence on Violence Against Women”, has B.C. Lions football players speaking to young men in high schools across the province. They're also doing public service announcements for us on T.V. and radio to try to get the vast majority of men who don't commit violence to begin speaking up to the minority who do. This is my favourite program after 31 years of working in the field. Women can talk to groups until we're completely exhausted, as many of us have, but men don't listen to women. Men will listen to men.[58]

2. Awareness-raising and education within Aboriginal communities

The Committee heard that, in some Aboriginal communities, violence against women was accepted as a part of life; efforts are required to challenge those assumptions, among both men and women. Witnesses told the Committee:

There was a time when it was okay for women to be treated that way, to be physically and sexually abused and all that comes with that. My community developed the attitude that women were to blame. That's one of the key areas that every community has to work on.[59]

Some of the risk factors that were identified were the ongoing normalization of abuse, whether it be childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, or just violence in general. This is just something that is commonplace. People grow up with this as being just a part of life, therefore it's easy to fall into the role of victim or perpetrator.[60]

The Committee also heard that it was important that awareness-raising and education be developed by and for Aboriginal people:

As women in our communities, we have a lead role in making sure that attitudes change, and that requires a lot of prevention programs, a lot of education, but it's coming from us, the women in the community. [61]

There are a number of promising practices being implemented around the country to address violence against Aboriginal women. Despite this, there is still much to be done to support Aboriginal women and men in their work of awareness-raising, education and prevention:

Indigenous communities are recognizing the role they play and are taking action. Two friendship centre programs in particular address violence against aboriginal women. One is the moose hide campaign. This is where men wear a small patch of moose hide to symbolize their commitment to stand up against violence towards aboriginal women and children.[62]

Examples of Best Practices For Awareness-Raising and Education

• The Alberta First Nations Regional Board for Family Violence Prevention provides an example of prevention and partnership. It manages the prevention project funding from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada for three treaty areas and has formed partnerships with other organizations in hosting a series of youth gatherings to …
• The Lac La Ronge Indian Child and Family Services Agency in Saskatchewan delivers a comprehensive program in four schools that offer high school education. The program involves students, teachers, parents, and communities in reducing violence and risk behaviours.
• The Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach in Quebec currently delivers a multi-approach prevention project. It offers family violence education awareness workshops and radio talk shows in the community, parenting courses, training on bullying for teachers and school staff, workshops for children of alcoholic parents, and group sessions for alcoholics.

F. THE NEED TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY CAPACITY

The families we met with identified major gaps in the provision of front-line support services. The stories they told us revealed that many victims simply did not have access to the services they needed. For many of these women, front-line services could not appropriately respond to the violence inflicted on them by their partner. Others suffered from addictions and did not have access to the treatment they needed in a timely fashion.

Given that many Aboriginal women and girls move frequently back and forth between reserves and urban centres, witnesses also told us that more human and financial resources are needed to ensure the programs and services likely to help them are available wherever they are.[63]

Some of the witnesses agreed that the capacities of Aboriginal communities should be strengthened.

Promising preventive measures

• The programs and services that work are often the result of a collective vision. One promising approach the Committee learned about is the hub model implemented in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. This program is led by the community’s chief of police and establishes links between the providers of various services, including health, social and education services, in order to help vulnerable people who come in contact with the police. When a police officer responds to a situation involving a vulnerable person, the case is passed on to an interdisciplinary team whose job is to mobilize the whole range of services deemed necessary to help the person escape the problem situation. The model therefore enables police forces, social services, health services and the education system to work together so that people in need receive the services and support they need.

Those who administer programs and services on reserves also highlighted the need to provide ongoing and long-term funding for important community initiatives.

The Committee has heard that the implementation of effective solutions require a coordinated effort by the community and the various levels of government, as Charlene Belleau of the Assembly of First Nations illustrated in her testimony:

In the healing process that we've set up through our community to deal with that abuse and violence.... If we are to be successful in the work we need to do with violence against women, certainly it starts within our own communities, but also it requires working closely with the various provincial and federal jurisdictions.[64]

The Committee heard about funding opportunities provided by various departments to address violence against women and public safety of communities. For example:

• Status of Women Canada’s Women's Program offers a $19-million-per-year grants and contributions program that works primarily with non-profit organizations across the country to fund community-level projects.
• Since 2010, Public Safety Canada has administered a program that enables Aboriginal communities to develop community safety plans that are tailored to the needs of each community. Budget 2010 provided $5.7 million over five years to implement these safety plans through contribution agreements. “Generally the agreements cover the cost of a coordinator in the community, plus some funds for training or engagement activities.”[65] Most of the agreements provide for amounts ranging from $45,000 to $50,000. In May 2013, the Committee learned that Public Safety Canada had completed only one community safety plan, while five more were under development. Community mobilization activities had been carried out in 25 Aboriginal communities, and 190 people had been trained to work as community facilitators or champions in their communities.[66] Given that communities are best placed to set priorities for genuine change and are central to the development of these community safety plans, some witnesses said they would like Public Safety Canada to devote more resources to the program so that more communities can benefit from it. Budget 2014 provides $25 million over five years beginning in 2015–2016 to continue the initiatives launched in Budget 2010, including the community safety plan development program.
• Budget 2012 provided $175 million over two years to fund proposals that support innovative partnerships between First Nations, provinces and the federal government to improve K-12 education on-reserve, and to support second– and third-level K-12 education service delivery on reserve.  Included in the $1.9 billion investment in Budget 2014 for K-12 education on reserve was a further $160 million over four years beginning in 2015‑16 for these types of proposals.

Federal officials acknowledged that these funding opportunities experienced uptake challenges. Testimony from witnesses such as Linda Savoie of Status of Women Canada confirmed that it would be a good idea to review the programs to make them more accessible to communities:

I would say that at this time, it is probably difficult for the communities to know where to turn. It is very important that within the federal family, the agencies and departments provide clear information concerning what is going on and who can do what. Even if we are making great strides, there is certainly room for improvement in coordination and complementarity.[67]

Like a number of witnesses, Ms. Savoie underscored the fact that eliminating violence against Aboriginal women and girls is a shared responsibility. Consequently, the efforts of other levels of government, Aboriginal peoples, civil society and other interested parties are required.