MMIW probe needed to spark ideas on stopping the violence

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/12/2015 (3628 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the new Liberal government in Ottawa struggles to keep all of its election promises, particularly those of a fiscal nature, it is no small relief it was able to deliver on its pledge to launch an inquiry into the plight of missing and murdered indigenous women.

The MMIW inquiry was a central theme of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s masterful campaign, and there was never really any doubt he would deliver. Still, for those who fought for many years with the previous Tory government over the need for an inquiry, Tuesday’s announcement had to be greeted as a great victory.

The first phase of the inquiry — an extensive consultation with indigenous communities and the families of the women who have died or gone missing — will begin immediately. This phase will help determine the parameters of the inquiry by consulting with indigenous groups and the families of the missing and murdered women.

There will be those who will continue to contest the inquiry, although that constituency lost a powerful ally when the Tories, now in opposition, recently abandoned their opposition to a thorough examination of the plight of indigenous women. Interim Leader Rona Ambrose has said her party now supports such an inquiry. What a difference an election can make.

All-party support bodes well for the future of this initiative, which will not only provide important insight into the plight of the missing and murdered indigenous women, but also help focus the nation’s attention on the issue of violence against women in general.

Ottawa and many provinces have launched initiatives to curb domestic violence, including dedicated courts and prosecutors. We have collectively expressed our disdain and disgust for men who harm women. And yet, there is no sign women are any safer.

A Statistics Canada report on crimes released in 2011 states some forms of violence against women have declined, including assaults and attempted murders. However, the homicide rate for women has been steady, while some crimes, such as sexual assault, have actually been on the rise.

All this should lead us to be concerned that even though it is now fashionable to denounce violence against women in public, men are still beating, raping and killing women with disgusting regularity.

That is never more true than when indigenous women are involved.

Without repeating all of the most recent statistics, an indigenous female is many times more likely to be assaulted or murdered than a non-aboriginal female. In fact, despite representing about four per cent of the female population, indigenous women make up more than 16 per cent of all female victims of homicide. In RCMP jurisdictions, which include a much higher proportion of aboriginal people, aboriginal women account for as much as 40 per cent of all homicides.

While non-aboriginal women are, more often than not, abused or killed by people close to them, a vigorous debate has opened up about whether that is accurate for indigenous women.

Two RCMP reports issued in the past two years stated that up to three-quarters of aboriginal women were killed by current and former spouses and other family members. This is consistent with non-aboriginal female victims of homicide; in 2013 and 2014, 77 per cent of non-aboriginal female victims were killed by spouses and family members.

Recent media investigations have, however, cast doubt on the veracity of that claim. In particular, a seminal report in the Toronto Star published earlier this month showed 44 per cent were murdered by people with little or no connection to them, including serial killers, a rate much higher than in the non-aboriginal victim population.

Semantics likely has a huge role in this discrepancy. Police consider “acquaintances” to be people known to the victim, while others have indicated a concern the term acquaintance is poorly defined, and might in fact be more of a stranger to the victim than police are willing to concede.

All this speaks to the need for an inquiry. Regardless of the terms we use, indigenous women are overrepresented as victims in violent crime, including homicide. Indeed, even as Canada saw its overall homicide rate drop to a 50-year low last year, the homicide rate among aboriginal women remains alarmingly steady.

We need to know more about the victims and the perpetrators. We need to know more about the circumstances of the crimes. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we need more ideas about how to stop the violence against indigenous women.

Overall, we need to remember that in almost every case where a government has called an official inquiry, we have learned things we did not know before.

Previous inquiries into the plight of aboriginal people — including Manitoba’s Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People and the recently released report of the residential school Truth and Reconciliation Commission — have all added greatly to our understanding of the reality of being aboriginal in Canada. What these reports have not done yet is spark seismic change.

The MMIW inquiry will continue to add to our understanding. One can only hope it can also create the critical mass for some real change so aboriginal women, and perhaps women in general, will be safer in the company of men.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca