MMIWG Statement from CRIAW-ICREF

The Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW-ICREF) stands in solidarity with Indigenous women and girls and call for an end to the pervasive and systemic racist misogynist violence Indigenous women and girls face in Canada. The findings and calls for justice from the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls are far- reaching. CRIAW-ICREF supports the attention paid to the role of structures and institutions in creating and reinforcing conditions of inequality for Indigenous women and girls and the historic and current effects of colonialism. Recognition of the deplorable social, economic, and political marginalization and discrimination of Indigenous women and girls as a denial of human rights and genocide is an important step in addressing the insidious and extensive impacts of colonialism, patriarchy, and racism. We are encouraged to see many of the calls for justice specifically seek to address these inequalities and are encouraged to see an understanding and focus on substantive equality.

We support the call for the development and implementation of a National Action Plan to address violence against Indigenous women and girls and it is essential that Indigenous women activists and feminists who have been advocating and working to end MMIWG for decades lead and direct all stages of the Plan. They should also be remunerated and supported for providing this expertise and knowledge.

CRIAW-ICREF continues to process and read through the findings, but there are obvious and direct actions the government can take immediately for Indigenous women and girls’ rights including eliminating all sex discrimination in the Indian Act. http://fafia-afai.org/en/first-nations-women-leaders-demand-an-end-to-indian-act-sex-discrimination-before-the-election/