Groups call for national probe into missing and murdered women

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This article was published 03/06/2011 (5233 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG – Two aboriginal groups and will sign a pact with a national women’s group to call for a Canadian task force to probe the cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women across the country.

The National Council of Women of Canada will have a representative in Winnipeg Saturday to draw attention to the issue, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said in a statement Friday afternoon.

The group will sign a declaration to back up the call with Native Women’s Association of Canada’s Jeannette Corbiere Lavell and AMC First Nations Women’s Committee representative Chief Francine Meeches (Swan Lake First Nation) in Winnipeg Saturday afternoon at the Viscount Gort Hotel.

An estimated 500 aboriginal women have been murdered or gone missing in Canada. In Manitoba a joint task force of the Winnipeg Police Service and the RCMP have been dedicated to 84 cases here since 2009.

In November 2008, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women required Canada to report back on steps taken to address the failure of law enforcement agencies to deal with the disappearance and murders of aboriginal women and girls.