SEEKING JUSTICE FOR CANADA’S MURDERED WOMEN

More than 600 aboriginal women have been killed or gone missing over the past several decades, according to data from the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC). Most of the documented cases occurred between 2000 and 2010, at which point the federal government ceased funding the database. 

NWAC has called the number "disproportionately high", noting that in the 2000s, aboriginal women comprised just three percent of the country's female population but represented 10 percent of all female homicides. 

Last month, NWAC gathered more than 23,000 signatures on a petition urging the federal government to launch a public inquiry into the matter. "This is a national tragedy that can no longer be ignored," NWAC President Michèle Audette said in a statement. 

Statistics presented to the House of Commons committee revealed that aboriginal women in Canada experience rates of violence more than three times that of non-aboriginal women, and young aboriginal women are five times more likely to die of violence.

The causes are wide and diverse, from the legacy of residential schools, to a lack of shelter space, to "inherent racism" among the media and public, Bennett said. 

Human Rights Watch (HRW), which gave testimony at the committee, has been investigating violence against native women since the summer of 2012, including conducting interviews with dozens of women and girls about their experiences with the Canadian justice system. 

The results were disturbing, lead researcher Meghan Rhoad said in an interview with Al Jazeera. 

"Indigenous women and girls are not only under-protected by the police, but some have experienced outright police abuse," Rhoad said, noting that many indigenous women reported having little faith that the same police forces that mistreated them in the past could offer them protection in the broader community. 

Adding to the mistrust, a comprehensive 2012 report into police handling of the Pickton case - the British Columbia serial killer who mostly targeted aboriginal sex-trade workers - cited systemic bias in the investigation. 

• HRW, which is among the voices calling for a public inquiry into violence against native women, believes the committee's final report should also recommend better police accountability and complaint mechanisms, Rhoad said.  
• For its part, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) says the prevalence of violence against aboriginal women is an issue of "great concern" to the national police force.

"The RCMP continues to seek out additional information in regards to potential risk factors and root causes, which will allow us to develop new prevention, intervention and enforcement initiatives," spokesperson Laurence Trottier told Al Jazeera, adding that the RCMP participates in a variety of localised task forces dedicated to actively reviewing files of missing women. 

Source: Al Jazeera...Full report...