In one of my classes focused on women's health, I focused much of my time on the issue of Missing and Murdered indigenous women. The posts below highlight what I've learned about the issue (but do not offer solutions or do justice to an issue that is far more complex and tragic than I can convey).
Warning: long post, cw mentions of violence against indigenous women.
MMIW_HUMBIO129_BlogPost
Image courtesy of Global News. Women protest in favor of the Canadian National Inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.
The term “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women” refers to the human rights violations, and often times violence, indigenous women face in both Canada and the United States. In this post, I will be focusing on the issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal (or First Nations) women residing in Canada.
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 4.3% of the Canadian population identified as “Aboriginal” (a First Nations member) in 2012, yet Aboriginal women made up 11.3% of missing women cases. Furthermore, between 1980 and 2012, 16% of female murder cases in Canada were Aboriginal women. These statistics show a clear overrepresentation of First Nations women in missing and murder cases. Furthermore, Aboriginal women are more likely to be murdered by a casual acquaintance, compared to other women in Canada (30% compared to 19%, respectively).
In examining this overrepresentation, it is important to recognize the legacy of colonialism in Canada. This legacy not only led to the dispossession of land, forced assimilation, and murder of indigenous peoples, but also to the continued sexualization of Aboriginal women and other harmful stereotypes that feed into the disproportional violence they face (The Canadian Encyclopedia). According to Statistics Canada—a governmental organization—in 2004, indigenous women were 3.5 times more likely to experience violence compared to their non-indigenous counterparts. Despite this, in 2014, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated that cases of violence against Aboriginal women should not be viewed as part of a greater systemic issue (“sociological phenomenon”) and that efforts aimed at improving data gathering methods were not high on the nation’s list of priorities.
Furthermore, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau launched a national inquiry regarding violence against Aboriginal women. The results of the inquiry support the notion that more cases are likely to occur than can be seen in current data. Approximately 6/10 cases of violence against indigenous peoples goes unreported, and agencies that do document murder victims and missing peoples may or may not collect information regarding victim race or ethnic background (McDiarmid). As a first step to take in preventing or reducing violent crimes against indigenous women, weaknesses in reporting systems and data gathering urgently need to be addressed and improved upon.
References
Brant, Jennifer. “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, Government of Canada, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-in-canada/.
Government of Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overview.” Government of Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Government of Canada, 27 May 2014, www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women-national-operational-overview.
McDiarmid, Margo. “Still No Way to Tell How Many Indigenous Women and Girls Go Missing in Canada Each Year.” Indigenous Women Police Data, Radio-Canada, 20 Dec. 2017, www.cbc.ca/news/politics/indigenous-missing-women-police-data-1.4449073.
“Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in British Columbia, Canada. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 2014, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in British Columbia, Canada, www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/indigenous-women-bc-canada-en.pdf.
“MMIWG Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.” NWAC, The Native Women's Association of Canada, 2018, www.nwac.ca/mmiwg/.
“Most Canadians support inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women: poll.” National Online Journalist, Global News, https://globalnews.ca/news/2552548/majority-of-canadians-support-mmiw-inquiry-poll/.
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Indianz.com
There is currently no way to really know how many Native American women are missing and/or experience violent crimes. In 2016, over 5,000 Native women went missing; this figure only includes reported cases. According to the Department of Justice, more than 56% of Native women surveyed in 2016 reported experiencing violence in their lifetime. Nonetheless, more than half of all cases of violence go unreported, but even by conservative estimates, Native women are far more likely to be homicide victims compared to Caucasian women and less likely to be homicide victims compared to African-American women (Bachman 20). This, however, conceals the great variety in rates between reservations and differences when comparing Native women living on reservations vs. in urban areas. For example, on some reservations, the homicide rate of Native women is 10 times that of the national average female homicide rate (Committee on Indian Affairs on Violence Against Women, 2011). Furthermore, like other women, perpetrators of violent crimes against Native women tend to be men whom victims know.
Moreover, data collection could and should be improved, as current estimates vary greatly due to factors such as underreporting and disparate survey methodologies. Underreporting is due to a wide variety of factors, including but not limited to: shame or fear on part of the victim, cultural insensitivity and mistrust (when interviewers or survey administrators are not Native), resource issues (insufficient funding or capacity of Tribal governments to conduct surveys), and sample bias—most collected data comes from women in clinic settings, domestic violence shelters, with phones (landlines or cell phones) (Bachman 64).
Even when violent crimes against Native women are reported (primarily reported by family and friends, not the women themselves), the path to justice for victims and their loved ones is a bleak one. Perhaps the greatest barriers to obtaining justice include issues of jurisdiction and access to resources. The federal government is the only body with jurisdiction over major violent crimes, especially when the perpetrator is non-Native or when the crime occurs off the reservation. Furthermore, laws such as Public Law 280 (Bachman 84) further complicate matters of jurisdiction as certain states have claimed jurisdiction over Native people belonging to specific tribes. Given the complicated nature of jurisdiction, many cases are not investigated in a timely manner. The Public Law 280 was originally passed in order to facilitate the investigation process, but its patchy implementation has only contributed to decreased federal funding to tribal governments. This funding is essential to enabling tribal governments to prosecute cases between Natives in a promptly manner and for necessary, urgent improvements in data gathering (reach and methods).
References
Bachman, Ronet, Heather Zaykowski, Rachel Kallymyer, Margarita Poteyeva, and Christina Lanier. “Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and the Criminal Justice Response: What is Known.” Submitted to the United States Department of Justice (unpublished), no. 223961, 2008, www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/223691.pdf.
Erickson, Jo and Tom Weber. “North Dakota Senator Heitkamp on ‘Savanna’s Act.’” Minnesota Public Radio, 2017, www.mprnews.org/story/2017/11/10/missingnativewomen.
Heitkamp, Heidi. “Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women: Resources & Information.” United States Senate, 2016, www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/missing-murdered-indigenous.
Indianz.Com. “Native women rallied at the U.S. Supreme Court on December 7, 2015, to call attention to high rates of victimization in Indian Country.” Indianz.Com, 2015, www.indianz.com/News/2016/06/29/effort-builds-for-missing-and-murdered-n.asp
“Missing and Murdered: No One Knows How Many Native Women Have Disappeared.” Indian Country Media Network, April 2016, indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/native-news/missing-and-murdered-no-one-knows-how-many-native-women-have-disappeared/.
Rizzo, Jessica. “Native American Women Are Rape Targets Because of a Legislative Loophole.” Vice News, 2015, www.vice.com/en_us/article/bnpb73/native-american-women-are-rape-targets-because-of-a-legislative-loophole-511
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 4.3% of the Canadian population identified as “Aboriginal” (a First Nations member) in 2012, yet Aboriginal women made up 11.3% of missing women cases. Furthermore, between 1980 and 2012, 16% of female murder cases in Canada were Aboriginal women. These statistics show a clear overrepresentation of First Nations women in missing and murder cases. Furthermore, Aboriginal women are more likely to be murdered by a casual acquaintance, compared to other women in Canada (30% compared to 19%, respectively).
In examining this overrepresentation, it is important to recognize the legacy of colonialism in Canada. This legacy not only led to the dispossession of land, forced assimilation, and murder of indigenous peoples, but also to the continued sexualization of Aboriginal women and other harmful stereotypes that feed into the disproportional violence they face (The Canadian Encyclopedia). According to Statistics Canada—a governmental organization—in 2004, indigenous women were 3.5 times more likely to experience violence compared to their non-indigenous counterparts. Despite this, in 2014, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated that cases of violence against Aboriginal women should not be viewed as part of a greater systemic issue (“sociological phenomenon”) and that efforts aimed at improving data gathering methods were not high on the nation’s list of priorities.
Furthermore, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau launched a national inquiry regarding violence against Aboriginal women. The results of the inquiry support the notion that more cases are likely to occur than can be seen in current data. Approximately 6/10 cases of violence against indigenous peoples goes unreported, and agencies that do document murder victims and missing peoples may or may not collect information regarding victim race or ethnic background (McDiarmid). As a first step to take in preventing or reducing violent crimes against indigenous women, weaknesses in reporting systems and data gathering urgently need to be addressed and improved upon.
References
Brant, Jennifer. “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, Government of Canada, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-in-canada/.
Government of Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overview.” Government of Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Government of Canada, 27 May 2014, www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women-national-operational-overview.
McDiarmid, Margo. “Still No Way to Tell How Many Indigenous Women and Girls Go Missing in Canada Each Year.” Indigenous Women Police Data, Radio-Canada, 20 Dec. 2017, www.cbc.ca/news/politics/indigenous-missing-women-police-data-1.4449073.
“Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in British Columbia, Canada. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 2014, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in British Columbia, Canada, www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/indigenous-women-bc-canada-en.pdf.
“MMIWG Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.” NWAC, The Native Women's Association of Canada, 2018, www.nwac.ca/mmiwg/.
“Most Canadians support inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women: poll.” National Online Journalist, Global News, https://globalnews.ca/news/2552548/majority-of-canadians-support-mmiw-inquiry-poll/.
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There is currently no way to really know how many Native American women are missing and/or experience violent crimes. In 2016, over 5,000 Native women went missing; this figure only includes reported cases. According to the Department of Justice, more than 56% of Native women surveyed in 2016 reported experiencing violence in their lifetime. Nonetheless, more than half of all cases of violence go unreported, but even by conservative estimates, Native women are far more likely to be homicide victims compared to Caucasian women and less likely to be homicide victims compared to African-American women (Bachman 20). This, however, conceals the great variety in rates between reservations and differences when comparing Native women living on reservations vs. in urban areas. For example, on some reservations, the homicide rate of Native women is 10 times that of the national average female homicide rate (Committee on Indian Affairs on Violence Against Women, 2011). Furthermore, like other women, perpetrators of violent crimes against Native women tend to be men whom victims know.
Moreover, data collection could and should be improved, as current estimates vary greatly due to factors such as underreporting and disparate survey methodologies. Underreporting is due to a wide variety of factors, including but not limited to: shame or fear on part of the victim, cultural insensitivity and mistrust (when interviewers or survey administrators are not Native), resource issues (insufficient funding or capacity of Tribal governments to conduct surveys), and sample bias—most collected data comes from women in clinic settings, domestic violence shelters, with phones (landlines or cell phones) (Bachman 64).
Even when violent crimes against Native women are reported (primarily reported by family and friends, not the women themselves), the path to justice for victims and their loved ones is a bleak one. Perhaps the greatest barriers to obtaining justice include issues of jurisdiction and access to resources. The federal government is the only body with jurisdiction over major violent crimes, especially when the perpetrator is non-Native or when the crime occurs off the reservation. Furthermore, laws such as Public Law 280 (Bachman 84) further complicate matters of jurisdiction as certain states have claimed jurisdiction over Native people belonging to specific tribes. Given the complicated nature of jurisdiction, many cases are not investigated in a timely manner. The Public Law 280 was originally passed in order to facilitate the investigation process, but its patchy implementation has only contributed to decreased federal funding to tribal governments. This funding is essential to enabling tribal governments to prosecute cases between Natives in a promptly manner and for necessary, urgent improvements in data gathering (reach and methods).
References
Bachman, Ronet, Heather Zaykowski, Rachel Kallymyer, Margarita Poteyeva, and Christina Lanier. “Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and the Criminal Justice Response: What is Known.” Submitted to the United States Department of Justice (unpublished), no. 223961, 2008, www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/223691.pdf.
Erickson, Jo and Tom Weber. “North Dakota Senator Heitkamp on ‘Savanna’s Act.’” Minnesota Public Radio, 2017, www.mprnews.org/story/2017/11/10/missingnativewomen.
Heitkamp, Heidi. “Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women: Resources & Information.” United States Senate, 2016, www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/missing-murdered-indigenous.
Indianz.Com. “Native women rallied at the U.S. Supreme Court on December 7, 2015, to call attention to high rates of victimization in Indian Country.” Indianz.Com, 2015, www.indianz.com/News/2016/06/29/effort-builds-for-missing-and-murdered-n.asp
“Missing and Murdered: No One Knows How Many Native Women Have Disappeared.” Indian Country Media Network, April 2016, indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/native-news/missing-and-murdered-no-one-knows-how-many-native-women-have-disappeared/.
Rizzo, Jessica. “Native American Women Are Rape Targets Because of a Legislative Loophole.” Vice News, 2015, www.vice.com/en_us/article/bnpb73/native-american-women-are-rape-targets-because-of-a-legislative-loophole-511
Rosay, André. “Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men.” National Institute of Justice, no. 277, 2016, nij.gov/journals/277/Pages/violence-against-american-indians-alaska-natives.aspx#table2.
Whisper at TEDxABQWomen. “Violence against Native women is not traditional: Whisper at TEDxABQWomen.” YouTube, 2013. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg2Jjam0p-U&t=194s
Whisper at TEDxABQWomen. “Violence against Native women is not traditional: Whisper at TEDxABQWomen.” YouTube, 2013. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg2Jjam0p-U&t=194s
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