Thank you very much. Actually, I will be getting there, so thank you for starting that question.
I want to say to begin with that I know our government has acknowledged that indigenous women and girls experience some of the highest rates of violence in this country and that the COVID‑19 pandemic has only exacerbated this already dire situation. Recently we've seen deeply distressing stories in the media about the lack of proper treatment of indigenous children in care. This is unacceptable.
When women are provided the supports they need to allow them to evade potentially compromising situations, there is a lowered likelihood for exploitation. With regard to specific funding for gender-based violence prevention programming for indigenous women, funding now has been distinguished as capacity building for indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ people. That's because the missing and murdered women and girls inquiry necessitated that distinction. The allocated funding for this year's budget, budget 2021, represents $415 million specifically for the Department of Women and Gender Equality, which contributes to a total of $601.3 million to advance the national action plan to end gender-based violence.
I have a question for Public Safety.
In 2019, Canada's national strategy to combat human trafficking added the new pillar of empowerment to emphasize the important role that victims and survivors play in combatting human trafficking. Can you update our committee on what kind of work is being done under this new pillar and on what new funding is being provided to grassroots organizations to facilitate trauma-informed support?