Shocking Truth: Indigenous Women in Canada Caught Between Violence and Discrimination

Shocking Truth: Indigenous Women in Canada Caught Between Violence and Discrimination

What's going on in Canada? A shadow has overshadowed the country's indigenous women and has been for years. Women of indigenous origin make up just four percent of the female population in Canada, but they face shocking realities. They make up almost a quarter of femicide victims and are twelve times more at risk of being killed than other women in the country. This is what our colleagues report France Culture in an insightful article.

The tragedy of the situation can also be seen in a 2021 government report that points to significant socio-economic inequalities, with highlights such as: higher unemployment, lower incomes and a particularly high rate of single mothers. These women also have four times the chance of becoming pregnant between the ages of 15 and 19. Their life expectancy is also 5 to 10 years less than that of non-indigenous women.

Fight and resistance

The reasons for these conditions are deep-rooted. Violence in communities often goes unreported, the isolation of reservations exacerbates the problem, and institutional discrimination leaves wide scars in the self-confident lives of these women. An urgent step in the right direction was the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (ENFFADA), launched in 2016. The final report, published in 2019, described the killings as “genocide” and managed to push the issue onto the political agenda.
Radio Canada highlights how important these discussions are for raising political awareness at the federal and provincial levels.

Since then, many indigenous women have mobilized and networked with other feminist movements. But not only in Canada, but also in other parts of America, such as Peru, indigenous women fight against violence and oppression every day. Here too, studies show that women of indigenous origin face similar challenges. 74.7% of Quechua-speaking women in Peru report experiences of violence by their partners.

Shocking practices and a dark past

A look across borders shows that suffering does not stay in one place. Shocking reports of forced sterilizations in Canada shed further light on the problem. Since the 1970s, thousands of indigenous women have been sterilized without their consent. A Senate investigation led by Senator Yvonne Boyer found that at least 12,000 women are affected. Forced sterilization is now classified as a crime against humanity, a fact that points to enormous social and legal changes such as daily news reported.

The darkness that hangs over these stories is illuminated through the words of survivors like Liz, who recounts how she was forced to undergo sterilization in the late 1970s because she was threatened with losing the baby. In addition, access to support services for many of these women is severely limited due to language barriers and discrimination.

The road to healing and protecting indigenous women is rocky. It requires trust, courage and unwavering commitment from communities, civil society and authorities. It is time for these women to be heard and for their stories to be heard so that change can finally be made. Because, as the mothers and daughters of the communities say: “No women and no girls are sacred.”