Indigenous girls removed from their families experience more violence

In response, frontline workers are calling for more support for Indigenous families.

The analysis, published recently in Juristat, found that 81% of Indigenous women who had been sent to the child welfare system had been physically or sexually abused in their lifetime.

Aboriginal women were also almost six times more likely than non-Aboriginal women to have been in government care as children.

In Canada, 52.2% of foster children are Aboriginal, although they represent approximately 7.7% of the total child population.

Consequences of colonization

Statistics Canada analysis indicates that violence as a whole is linked to the historical and ongoing trauma of colonization and related policies aimed at erasing Indigenous cultures and dismantling Indigenous families and communities.

The report found that other characteristics, including the presence of disability or housing insecurity, were also linked to a higher likelihood of violence among Aboriginal women.

Darlene Okemaysim-Sicotte has been an activist for the cause of missing and murdered women and girls for many years.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Madeline Kotzer

Darlene Okemaysim-Sicotte is Co-Chair of Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik, which stands for women walking together in Cree. The Saskatoon-based group has been supporting the families of missing women for nearly two decades.

Ms. Okemaysim-Sicotte has spoken with many women about how violence has permeated their lives as children in care.

Their experiences of trauma and violence began young by being taken from their families and then placed in abusive foster homesshe said.

While 52.2% of foster children in Canada are Aboriginal, they represent 90% of the 10,000 children in care in Manitoba. A situation denounced by the protector of indigenous families of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Cora Morgan.

” The most violent act one can do to a woman is to take her child away from her. »

A call to action

This post highlights the urgent need for immediate action by all governments to prevent further violence against Indigenous women, girls and (LGBTQ2S+) peopleexplained, by email, Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, president of the National Family and Survivors Circle.

Her organization brings together Indigenous women from different walks of life to develop a national plan in response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

This investigation heard the testimonies of many people who suffered violence and a loss of identity while in care. They also recounted how they were significantly hurt when their own children were taken from them.

According to Ms. Anderson-Pyrz, there is evidence that many missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls were taken from their families as children, resulting in trauma and destabilization leading to a higher likelihood of suffering violence.

In 2020, the federal government passed legislation giving Indigenous communities the authority to run their own children’s services.

With information from The Canadian Press and CBC