Susan Lefthand and child /Byron Harmon, photographer, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Byron Harmon Fonds (V623/NA-3201)
The History of Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls
Barriers for Indigenous women and children accessing safe shelter are multiple and complex. Indigenous women are more likely to live in a social environment in which substance abuse, spousal violence, lack of housing and poverty are widespread. Family violence in First Nations communities is a painful legacy of colonization. The extreme prevalence of family violence as well as substance abuse reflects cultural dislocation, systemic economic deprivation, the intergenerational legacies of residential schooling, the pain and desperation of unresolved trauma and grief, discrimination, and lack of hope.
Indigenous women have become devalued and silenced since colonization
Women in traditional culture were respected and held valuable roles in community. Indigenous systems that allocated power to women were incompatible with the patriarchal world that the colonizers came from, and hence colonization worked directly to oppress and remove rights and identity from Indigenous women. The dismantling of women’s roles across economic development, political systems, land ownership and spiritual roles happened in a relatively short period through oppressive policies and ongoing discrimination.
- Aboriginal women 15 years and older are 3.5 times more likely to experience violence than non-Aboriginal women
- 54% reported severe forms of family violence, such as being beaten, being choked, having had a gun or knife used against them (NWAC, 2018)
- Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) is one of the most pressing social issues facing Indigenous communities
- While they represent only 4% of all women in Canada, indigenous women make up 22% (38 out of 173 women) of homicides perpetrated against women.
The inequitable treatment of Indigenous women stems from longstanding subjugation of traditional roles, to colonization and ongoing oppressive policies. This treatment has manifested in increased risk across all areas of Indigenous women’s lives in health, education, poverty and incarceration. This inequitable and racist treatment is unmistakably evident in the issues of violence against Indigenous women and girls (VAIWG).
The suppression of Indigenous cultures, language, land, residential school have undermined the existence of activities that are central to Indigenous women’s power and well-being.
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In Canada, Aboriginal women are almost three times as likely as non-Aboriginal women to report being the victim of violent crimes, and twice as likely as non-Aboriginal people to report being a victim of spousal violence.
- Brennan, S. (2011). Statistics Canada: Violent victimization of Aboriginal women in the Canadian provinces, 2009. -
Close to half (48%) of Aboriginal women who experienced violence by a current or former partner, reported the most severe forms of violence, such as being sexually assaulted, beaten, choked, or threatened with a gun or a knife.
- Brennan, S. (2011). Statistics Canada: Violent victimization of Aboriginal women in the Canadian provinces, 2009. -
Between 1997 and 2000, homicide rates of Aboriginal females were almost seven times higher than non-Aboriginal females.
- Native Women’s Association of Canada (2010). Sisters in Spirit 2010 Research Findings. -
In 2009, Native Women’s Association of Canada reported 520 known cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. As of March 31, 2010, NWAC has recorded information for 582 cases.
- Native Women’s Association of Canada (2010). Sisters in Spirit 2010 Research Findings. -
Alberta Council of Women's Shelters’ 2013-14 annual fiscal data showed 3,024 Aboriginal women were admitted into emergency shelters across Alberta, which made up 53% of total women admitted into shelters. This is despite that fact that Aboriginal women only make up 6% of all women who live in Alberta. (Stats Canada, 2006).
- Alberta Council of Women Shelter’s (2014). Annual fiscal data.
Further Reading
Anderson, K. (2016). A recognition of being: Reconstructing Native womanhood (2nd ed). Toronto ON: Second Story Press.
Anderson, K., Campbell, M. & Belcourt, C. (Eds.), Keetsahnak: Our missing and murdered Indigenous sisters. Edmonton AB: The University of Alberta Press.
McDiarmid, J. (2019). Highway of tears: A true story of racism, indifference, and the pursuit of justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Simon & Schuster.
Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls