Indigenous women must lead action plan
While Indigenous people and Canadians are coping with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Indigenous women and girls continue to disappear — and many remain missing. They were recently honoured and remembered with “Sisters in Spirit” vigils held across the country. We cannot wait for one crisis to be over before we address the other.
Ontario has the highest population of Indigenous women in Canada — almost 200,000 — with 85 per cent living offreserve in urban and rural areas. We are your neighbours. During the pandemic, racism, domestic violence, homelessness and human trafficking have all increased, and the threat to Indigenous women and girls remains higher than for any other group.
Intersecting social and economic challenges contribute to the exploitation of Indigenous women and our vulnerability to violence. The systems that we must navigate throughout our lifetime, and the forms of violence we face within them, include health care, child welfare, education, food security, homelessness and housing, employment, social services, media and social media, etc.
Beyond physical violence, Indigenous women and girls also experience violence in the form of racism, discrimination from the very systems that are supposed to support us and provide safety. Additionally a lack of respect for our right for sovereignty over our children, self and nations, as well as misrepresentations in literature, education and research.
To address violence against Indigenous women and girls, the National Action Plan must focus on these social and economic systems and their root causes. To support this, the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) has released “Reconciliation with Indigenous Women: Changing the Story of MMIWG,” a report outlining key areas of concern and recommendations for moving forward.
The report looks to Indigenous women, their knowledge and experience, as not only the focus of the national inquiry, but as natural leaders in finding and implementing meaningful solutions. This critical information must be integrated into the National Action Plan if it is to be successful.
In the report, we offer13 recommendations based on decades of input from Indigenous women and previous research. Incorporating the traditional 13 Grandmother Moons Teachings, these strengths-based recommendations and a holistic approach will foster independence, resilience and environments in which Indigenous women and girls are respected, not dehumanized, and their safety is supported.
At ONWA, we recognize the important role we play. Indigenous women’s organizations bring critical knowledge, expertise, leadership and community voice to the table. They provide safe spaces where Indigenous women feel comfortable disclosing the violence they are experiencing.
There must be a commitment for the development of new funding relationships that include Indigenous women’s organizations because they are best equipped to respond. This is why ONWA is proud to participate as the federal government’s 11th Indigenous Women’s Working Group, to be comprised of Indigenous women’s service providers and experts on specific safety issues that Indigenous women face.
Communities have the knowledge of how to begin the healing and reconciliation of the intergenerational trauma, oppression and systemic racism that continue to affect our overall health and safety. Having Indigenous women design, develop and deliver communitybased programs with independence is where changed outcomes will occur.
By funding culturally specific programs that are already operating in communities, ONWA estimates a savings to the provincial government of at least $50 million a year. Some examples include our Nihdawin Housing Program, Breaking Free from Family Violence Program and our Anti-Human Trafficking Program.
Indigenous women must have easy access to inclusive, trauma-informed, culturally based social services that are informed by Indigenous women and their immediate needs. This will lead directly to improved safety and help address the systemic causes of violence that have resulted in Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Support us in our leadership to end this epidemic.