Saskatchewan Federation of Police Officers 105 Fact Sheet: Violence Against Aboriginal Women Statistics Canada reports that Aboriginal women are significantly overrepresented as victims of homicide. • Between 1997 and 2000, homicide rates of Aboriginal females were almost seven times higher than those of non-Aboriginal females. • Often overlooked or ignored is the extreme vulnerability of women in the sex trade. Between 1991 and 2004, 171 women involved in prostitution were killed in Canada; 45% of these homicides remain unsolved (Statistics Canada 2006a, p. 37). • Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) data published in Amnesty International Canada’s report Stolen Sisters: Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada indicate that Aboriginal women between the ages of 25 and 44 with Indian status are five times more likely than other women of the same age to die as the result of violence. • NWAC’s research indicates that homicides involving Aboriginal women are more likely to go unsolved. Only 53% of murder cases in NWAC’s Sisters In Spirit database have been solved, compared to 84% of all murder cases across the country. Community-based research has found levels of violence against Aboriginal women to be even higher than those reported by government surveys. There are many limitations to government-collected statistics. • Government statistics are based on police-collected data, but police numbers reflect only those incidents that are reported to police. Six out of 10 incidents of violent crime against Aboriginal people are thought to go unreported. • There are no standard policies covering whether and/or how police track violence experienced by Aboriginal peoples. Some police agencies, including the RCMP, do not collect this information at all. This is significant, as the RCMP covers 75% of Canada’s geography and serves more than 630 Aboriginal communities. NWAC holds the only national database on the number and circumstances of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada. For more information, please see Fact Sheet 3D, “Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls.” References Amnesty International Canada. (2004). Stolen Sisters: Discrimination and violence against Indigenous women in Canada. Ottawa: Amnesty International. Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC). (2008). Sisters In Spirit initiative literature review. Ottawa: Native Women’s Association of Canada. www.nwac.ca/en/documents SISLiteratureReview_March2008_Final.pdf. Statistics Canada. (2004). General Social Survey (GSS). Ottawa Government of Canada Statistics Canada. (2009a). Homicide in Canada, 2008. Catalogue no. 85-002-X. Ottawa: Minister of Industry. Statistics Canada. (2005). Homicide in Canada. Catalogue no. 85-002-XIE 26 (6). Ottawa: Minister of Industry. Statistics Canada. (2006a). Measuring violence against women: Statistical trends 2006. Catalogue no. 85-570-XIE. Ottawa: Minister of Industry. Statistics Canada. (2006b). Victimization and offending among the Aboriginal population in Canada. Catalogue no. 85-002XIE 26 (3). Ottawa: Minister of Industry. ...continued For further information about Evidence to Action, please contact the NWAC satellite office: Ottawa ON K1N 7B7 Toll Free: 1-800-461-4043 Phone: 613-722-3033 Fax: 613-722-7687 www.nwac.ca Head office: 155 International Road, Unit 4, Akwesasne, Ontario K6H 5R7 Phone: 519-445-0990 Fax: 519-445-0924
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