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2019-06-03 21:00:48 UTC
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https://www.npr.org/2019/06/03/729258906/genocide-has-been-committed-against-indigenous-women-and-girls-canadian-panel-sa
'Genocide' Has Been Committed Against Indigenous Women And Girls,
Canadian Panel Says
June 3, 20193:39 PM ET
Merrit Kennedy 2018 square
Women attend the closing ceremony of the National Inquiry into Missing
and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls on Monday in Gatineau, Quebec.
Chris Wattie/Reuters
A years-long government inquiry says human rights abuses "perpetrated
historically and maintained today by the Canadian state" has led to
violence against Indigenous women and girls that amounts to genocide.
It's the conclusion of more than two years of research involving at
least 2,380 people who shared their stories or artwork with the National
Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
At a ceremony detailing the findings early Monday in Gatineau, Quebec,
Indigenous community members cheered and wept. Indigenous peoples in
Canada have long expressed frustration that violent acts against their
communities were not adequately investigated by authorities.
The National Inquiry's full report, which runs over 1,000 pages, also
highlights violence against indigenous 2SLGBTQQIA people, which stands
for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning,
intersex and asexual.
"The significant, persistent and deliberate pattern of systemic racial
and gendered, human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses —
perpetuated historically and maintained today by the Canadian state,
designed to displace Indigenous Peoples from their lands, social
structures and governance and to eradicate their existence as Nations,
communities, families and individuals — is the cause of the
disappearances, murders and violence experienced by Indigenous women,
girls, 2SLGBTQQIA people, and this is genocide," Chief Commissioner
Marion Buller said at the ceremony.
The steps to end the violence, the report states, "must be no less
monumental than the combination of systems and actions that has worked
to maintain colonial violence for generations."
Canada To Launch Nationwide Investigation Into Murdered, Missing
Aboriginal Women
The inquiry was a campaign promise by Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau, who took part in Monday's ceremony. In a statement, Trudeau
said his government would thoroughly review the report and "develop and
implement a National Action Plan to address violence against Indigenous
women, girls, and LGBTQ and two-spirit people."
The inquiry put forward a lengthy list of recommendations, named Calls
for Justice, that it said Canada has a "legal imperative" to implement.
Trudeau vowed that the government will turn these demands into "real,
meaningful, Indigenous-led action."
The prime minister also said his government has already begun taking
steps to protect Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people,
including reforming Canada's criminal justice system.
As NPR has reported, a 2014 study by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
found that nearly 1,200 Indigenous women were murdered or went missing
between 1980 and 2012, and government ministers have said they believe
the actual number is far higher.
The National Inquiry didn't quantify the number of the missing and
murdered in Canada, instead concluding that "thousands of women's deaths
or disappearances have likely gone unrecorded over the decades."
The report views the violence as a product of a long history of
oppression. "Violence against Indigenous women and girls is a crisis
centuries in the making," the reports states. "The process of
colonization has, in fact, created the conditions for the crisis of
missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people that
we are confronting today."
Trauma from government policies toward the indigenous community, it
says, are a catalyst for violence — policies such as separating children
from their families and forcing children to attend government-sponsored
schools for purposes of assimilation. Violence also stemmed from the
economic and social marginalization of these communities, and a lack of
will by government and other institutions to make concrete reforms.
"In the justice system, the health care system, child welfare, and in
other situations, witnesses commonly described an institutional culture
that makes women and 2SLGBTQQIA people feel as though the violence
they're experiencing is due to their own personal failings, rather than
recognizing that these challenges are a reflection of the way their own
institutions contribute to colonial violence," the report states.
The government has not listened enough to indigenous community members
and what they think might help to end the violence, according to the
inquiry. The dozens of recommendations put forward ranged from global to
local in scope — such as calling on the government to fulfill its
obligations under international law or asking Canadian officials to help
provide access for Indigenous communities to connect with their own
cultures.
The report also urged the government to prioritize funding for and
civilian oversight of Indigenous policing, and to weigh violence against
Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people more heavily in criminal
sentencing.
(Actually, of the crimes that are able to be solved, a very
large number of the identified suspects are fellow indigenous
peoples.)
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/03/729258906/genocide-has-been-committed-against-indigenous-women-and-girls-canadian-panel-sa
'Genocide' Has Been Committed Against Indigenous Women And Girls,
Canadian Panel Says
June 3, 20193:39 PM ET
Merrit Kennedy 2018 square
Women attend the closing ceremony of the National Inquiry into Missing
and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls on Monday in Gatineau, Quebec.
Chris Wattie/Reuters
A years-long government inquiry says human rights abuses "perpetrated
historically and maintained today by the Canadian state" has led to
violence against Indigenous women and girls that amounts to genocide.
It's the conclusion of more than two years of research involving at
least 2,380 people who shared their stories or artwork with the National
Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
At a ceremony detailing the findings early Monday in Gatineau, Quebec,
Indigenous community members cheered and wept. Indigenous peoples in
Canada have long expressed frustration that violent acts against their
communities were not adequately investigated by authorities.
The National Inquiry's full report, which runs over 1,000 pages, also
highlights violence against indigenous 2SLGBTQQIA people, which stands
for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning,
intersex and asexual.
"The significant, persistent and deliberate pattern of systemic racial
and gendered, human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses —
perpetuated historically and maintained today by the Canadian state,
designed to displace Indigenous Peoples from their lands, social
structures and governance and to eradicate their existence as Nations,
communities, families and individuals — is the cause of the
disappearances, murders and violence experienced by Indigenous women,
girls, 2SLGBTQQIA people, and this is genocide," Chief Commissioner
Marion Buller said at the ceremony.
The steps to end the violence, the report states, "must be no less
monumental than the combination of systems and actions that has worked
to maintain colonial violence for generations."
Canada To Launch Nationwide Investigation Into Murdered, Missing
Aboriginal Women
The inquiry was a campaign promise by Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau, who took part in Monday's ceremony. In a statement, Trudeau
said his government would thoroughly review the report and "develop and
implement a National Action Plan to address violence against Indigenous
women, girls, and LGBTQ and two-spirit people."
The inquiry put forward a lengthy list of recommendations, named Calls
for Justice, that it said Canada has a "legal imperative" to implement.
Trudeau vowed that the government will turn these demands into "real,
meaningful, Indigenous-led action."
The prime minister also said his government has already begun taking
steps to protect Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people,
including reforming Canada's criminal justice system.
As NPR has reported, a 2014 study by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
found that nearly 1,200 Indigenous women were murdered or went missing
between 1980 and 2012, and government ministers have said they believe
the actual number is far higher.
The National Inquiry didn't quantify the number of the missing and
murdered in Canada, instead concluding that "thousands of women's deaths
or disappearances have likely gone unrecorded over the decades."
The report views the violence as a product of a long history of
oppression. "Violence against Indigenous women and girls is a crisis
centuries in the making," the reports states. "The process of
colonization has, in fact, created the conditions for the crisis of
missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people that
we are confronting today."
Trauma from government policies toward the indigenous community, it
says, are a catalyst for violence — policies such as separating children
from their families and forcing children to attend government-sponsored
schools for purposes of assimilation. Violence also stemmed from the
economic and social marginalization of these communities, and a lack of
will by government and other institutions to make concrete reforms.
"In the justice system, the health care system, child welfare, and in
other situations, witnesses commonly described an institutional culture
that makes women and 2SLGBTQQIA people feel as though the violence
they're experiencing is due to their own personal failings, rather than
recognizing that these challenges are a reflection of the way their own
institutions contribute to colonial violence," the report states.
The government has not listened enough to indigenous community members
and what they think might help to end the violence, according to the
inquiry. The dozens of recommendations put forward ranged from global to
local in scope — such as calling on the government to fulfill its
obligations under international law or asking Canadian officials to help
provide access for Indigenous communities to connect with their own
cultures.
The report also urged the government to prioritize funding for and
civilian oversight of Indigenous policing, and to weigh violence against
Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people more heavily in criminal
sentencing.
(Actually, of the crimes that are able to be solved, a very
large number of the identified suspects are fellow indigenous
peoples.)