Elimination of Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls, 2SLGBTQQIA, Men and Boys
Lead Contact: charmaine denny, Sexualized Violence Prevention coordinator
Indigenous women face life-threatening, gender-based violence, and disproportionately experience violent crimes because of hatred and racism. According to Statistics Canada’s 2004 General Social Survey (GSS), Aboriginal women experience much higher rates of violence than non-Aboriginal women. Statistics Canada also reported the following findings:
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Aboriginal women 15 years and older are 3.5 times more likely to experience violence than non-Aboriginal women.
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Rates of spousal assault against Aboriginal women are more than three times higher than those against non-Aboriginal women.
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Nearly one-quarter of Aboriginal women experienced some form of spousal violence in the five years preceding the 2004 GSS. Statistics Canada reported that Aboriginal women are more likely to experience more severe and potentially life-threatening forms of family violence than non-Aboriginal women.
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54% of Aboriginal women reported severe forms of family violence, such as being beaten, being choked, having had a gun or knife used against them, or being sexually assaulted, versus 37% of non-Aboriginal women
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44% of Aboriginal women reported “fearing for their lives” when faced with severe forms of family violence, compared with 33% of non-Aboriginal women.
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27% of Aboriginal women reported experiencing 10 or more assaults by the same offender, as opposed to 18% of non-Aboriginal women.
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While the number of non-Aboriginal women reporting the most severe forms of violence declined from 43% in 1999 to 37% in 2004, the number of similar attacks against Aboriginal women remained unchanged at 54% during the same time period.
NSNWA envisions a future where Indigenous women are free from violence and our lives are valued and protected equally as non-Indigenous women’s in NS and Canada. NSNWA is committed to leading this effort in our territory and will continue to work collaboratively with all levels of government and service organizations to create and implement actions to eliminate violence against Indigenous peoples as well as to ensure that the systems and supports are available for those in need.
Priority Direction:
MMIWG: NSNWA as a member of the Eastern Door Indigenous Women’s Association was a party withstanding at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Please find MMIWG Inquiry Final Summation . NSNWA welcomed the Inquiry to Membertou for the first Inquiry hearings from October 30 to November 1, 2017.