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(Ottawa and Vancouver)The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) and the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) responded to the final report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry by renewing their call for a national public inquiry into the hundreds of murders and disappearances of Aboriginal women and girls.

Michèle Audette, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada said: “This Inquiry dealt only with the failure of police around Vancouver to investigate and prosecute William Pickton in a timely way.   The Oppal inquiry did not deal with all of the murders and disappearances of Aboriginal women and girls even in the Province of British Columbia — and the murders and disappearances have continued. The Oppal inquiry did not focus specifically on Aboriginal women and girls, and the multiple factors which cause the epidemic of extreme violence against them.”

“Because of this limitation, we need a national public inquiry that is focused on the murders and disappearances of Aboriginal women and girls, in every part of Canada, which will deal with the systemic patterns and causes of the violence.”

“The Native Women’s Association of Canada was shut out of the B.C. Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, “said Sharon McIvor of FAFIA. “The inquiry proceeded without Aboriginal women’s organizations, without any Aboriginal organizations, and without the women’s organizations who know about the lives of vulnerable women, “said Sharon McIvor of FAFIA

“This process was discriminatory, and a betrayal of Aboriginal women and girls.  Because the Government of British Columbia refused to provide funding for legal counsel for parties granted standing at the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, the Inquiry itself violated the rights of the most vulnerable women. It excluded them; it did not listen to them; and it refused to put them on an equal footing with police and government representatives,” said McIvor.

“A national public inquiry must not repeat these shocking mistakes,“ said Audette. “That means a national inquiry must be established after full consultation with Aboriginal women and their representatives about the terms of reference and the process. There must be clear guarantees that Aboriginal women will be able to participate fully with funded legal counsel of their own choosing. Also, a national inquiry must deal with the systemic issues that cause the violence against Aboriginal women and girls — by this I mean poverty, racism, sexism, and the multiple effects of discrimination. Until we expose the root causes of the violence, we will not be able to prevent it. It is not an issue of police conduct alone.”

“One element of the failure to deal with the causes of the violence against Aboriginal women and girls is the tacit acceptance of prostitution as a so—called “lifestyle choice,” said Audette. “But it is societal discrimination and poverty that funnel Aboriginal women and girls into prostitution, where they experience extreme violence on a regular basis.  The Native Women’s Association of Canada has a strong and clear position on prostitution. We want the women who are in prostitution to be decriminalized, but we want the laws enforced fully against pimps, traffickers, and johns for exploiting them.  We want much more than poverty, violence, exploitation, and murder for Aboriginal women.”

“As well as a national inquiry, Canada also needs outside scrutiny,” said McIvor. “NWAC and FAFIA have taken the issue of the murders and disappearances of Aboriginal women and girls to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, as well as other international bodies. We have asked for outside review because, until Canada has effective measures in place to stop the murders and disappearances of Aboriginal women and girls, we need the support and scrutiny of the international human rights community.”

The Native Women’s Association of Canada position on prostitution can be found here: http://www.nwac.ca/programs/bedford-case

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For further information, please contact:

Michèle Audette, President

Native Women’s Association of Canada

Tel: (613) 722-3033 ext. 259

Toll Free:  1-800-461-4043

Fax: (613) 722-7687

Email: maudette@nwac.ca

(www.nwac.ca)

Sharon McIvor

Human Rights Committee

Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action

Tel: (250) 378-7479

Fax: (604) 874-6661

Email: bearclaw@shaw.ca

You can read the full letter here.

Gendered Analysis of 2012 Federal Budget

(c) Juan Manuel Herrera/OAS

Full document below:

Briefing paper for the thematic hearing before the Inter-American commission on human rights

It is a decision on a complaint filed by Cecilia Kell, an Aboriginal woman who is a member of the Rae-Edzo community in the Northwest Territories. The Committee ruled that the NWT Housing Corporation and the Government of the Northwest Territories discriminated against her because the Housing Corporation was responsible for her losing ownership in her house in the community, and the Government of the Northwest Territories failed to provide her with adequate legal aid when she sought a remedy.

This is a very important decision as it makes the connections between male violence, loss of housing, and inadequate legal aid. Cecilia Kell experienced violence at the hands of her male partner, attempted to escape it, had her name removed from the Assignment of Lease which made her partner the sole owner of her home and was evicted as a result, and then was not provided with adequate legal aid to obtain an appropriate remedy. This is a paradigmatic pattern of events for Aboriginal women, and for women facing male violence.

The Committee found that Cecilia Kell was discriminated against because of her aboriginality and her sex, and that Canada failed to take the necessary steps to protect Aboriginal women who face violence.

The Committee has made four recommendations: 1) that Cecilia Kell be provided with housing commensurate in size, location and quality to the housing of which she was deprived; 2) that she be given appropriate monetary compensation for material and moral damages; 3) that Canada recruit and train more aboriginal women to provide legal aid to women from their communities; and 4) that Canada review its legal aid system to ensure that aboriginal women who are victims of domestic violence have effective access to justice.

It is essential to ensure that the Government of the NWT and the Government of Canada implement these recommendations are implemented. FAFIA encourages it members and allies to write to the following Ministers requesting immediate implementation of the CEDAW Committee’s recommendations.

Government of the Northwest Territories:

Premier Bob McLeod (also Minister Responsible for the Status of Women),

P.O. Box 1320; Yellowknife, NT; X1A 2L9             P: 867-669-2311; F: 867-873-0385 bob_mcleod@gov.nt.ca

Minister of Housing:  Robert C McLeod P.O. Box 1320; Yellowknife, NT; X1A 2L9             Phone: 867-669-2366 Fax: 867-873-0431 robert_c_mcleod@gov.nt.ca

President of the NWT Housing Corporation: David Stewart – david_stewart@gov.nt.ca NWT Housing Corporation Headquarters 5102 – 50 Avenue P.O. Box 2100 Yellowknife, NT X1A 2P6

Minister of Justice:  Glen Abernethy P.O. Box 1320             Yellowknife, NT X1A 2L9             Phone: 867-669-2238             Fax: 867-873-0306 glen_abernethy@gov.nt.ca

Government of Canada:

The Honourable Robert Douglas Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada 284 Wellington Street Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0H8 Email: mcu@justice.gc.ca

The Honourable John Baird Minister of Foreign Affairs

House of Commons

Ottawa, Ontario

K1A 0A6

Telephone:  613-996-0984

Fax: 613-996-9880

Email: john.baird@parl.gc.ca

Views of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women under article 7, paragraph 3, of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (fifty-first session)