Hello, everyone. I'm Irene Goodwin. I'm Ojibway from northwestern Ontario. I've been in Ottawa for about seven years now and have had the opportunity to work with NWAC for about five of those years. It's been quite a privilege, and a learning experience as well.
I'm quite honoured to be here as part of this presentation to the committee. Unlike our president, I'm not very fluid in talking off the cuff, so you'll see me actually read my notes. I apologize for having my head down.
Many of you know that we have published a number of our works. It's very well known. The 2010 publication of “What Their Stories Tell Us” by NWAC made public information about 582 cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls, cases that have occurred in every province and territory in Canada. NWAC continues to monitor information about occurrences of violence and notes that these do not appear to be substantially declining in number.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to update this data. NWAC is not resourced to maintain our database of occurrences at this time. The RCMP missing persons database has only just become operational, and there are still substantial gaps in the collection by the RCMP of information on the aboriginal identity of victims, which makes this a poor source of information.
NWAC has collected information on new cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls since the cessation of our database work in 2010. In January 2012, for example, NWAC compiled 56 new occurrences of missing or murdered aboriginal women and girls that occurred between April 2010 and January 2012. There were an additional 16 potential cases that required further investigation into the circumstances or in which the aboriginal identity of the victim was unknown.
In March 2013, NWAC updated this compilation of new occurrences and found that the number of cases had risen to 86 missing or murdered aboriginal women and girls. Together, with the initial number of 582 and now with the 86, the number is 668, but we need to make clear that these are only the known cases. We are very aware that the number is much higher than that. There are limitations to our ability to collect data at this particular point, so the number could be three or potentially four times higher than what we are currently looking at.
Our database, our research, and our work with families to create life stories for individual women and girls have demonstrated that aboriginal women affected by violence are not restricted to only one occupation, income level, or lifestyle. Our work also documents that many of the affected women were mothers, leaving children to mourn them who may be irreparably harmed by the trauma of the loss of their mothers. Our ongoing efforts with volunteer workers indicate that the issue is not resolving, that new cases continue to occur. We hear of them every day.
To provide some structure in terms of the work we do, we adhere to the following five values and principles, which are also in use by the aboriginal affairs working group which Michèle mentioned earlier.
First is relationships. We feel it is important to build respectful relationships among all involved parties. This is critical to finding effective solutions. Respectful relationships include a willingness to learn about and value what each has to offer, ongoing clear and consistent communications, and inclusion in processes and mutual accountabilities. I think this is what Michèle was mentioning earlier and referring to very strongly, concerning the work that we in this committee can engage in.
Second is community-engaged and community-led responses. Communities, however they define themselves, must be involved in identifying and implementing responses. Programs and services are built on the knowledge and lived experiences of aboriginal women and families. Working in relationship, governments and first nations, Inuit, and Métis women and families should play a central role in the development and implementation of programs and services, and not just the service providers and organizations. We feel it is very important to involve community in all the work that is done, especially when it involves the community.
Third is an engaged and accountable relationship. Leadership at all levels of government, including federal, provincial, territorial, and local, as well as first nations, Inuit, and Métis, must make the issue of violence against aboriginal women and girls a priority and must allocate resources and demonstrate leadership in addressing these issues. All leadership must be accountable. That's an important principle.
Fourth is integration, collaboration, and equity. All involved parties should work collaboratively and effectively to make every effort to integrate programs and services to create holistic networks that are accessible to women, children, youth, seniors, elders, and men.
Fifth, it's very important to be culturally based. Programs and services should be designed and delivered in a culturally sensitive and appropriate manner that recognizes the importance of tradition, cultural knowledge, and identity, and which builds on the resiliency and capacity of first nations, Inuit, and Métis women, youth, and men.
As an active advisory member to this committee, NWAC can provide directly relevant information in this regard. Policies and legislation implemented without aboriginals' input have failed and will continue to fail. Many of these policies continue to impact aboriginal women, leading to many socio-economic challenges that can impede their safety and welfare and lead to increased risks of sexual exploitation or human trafficking, or to falling victim to violence that may lead to their disappearance or death. There's a difference between addressing immediate and future needs, things which respond to violence that has occurred but do not prevent or stop more violence from occurring in the future. This should be known.
With regard to this work, NWAC has created a chart. I have it here, so I'll provide it to you, Madam Chair. It is a coloured chart. We call it our missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls chart.
The chart itself is not a logic model, nor does it identify all aspects around the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls. Rather, it provides a snapshot, an overview based on prevention and intervention. Each segment can contain multiple variables and potential solutions.
Very briefly, it's built on a short-term, medium-term, and long-term look at the issue. For example, in the prevention aspect of the chart, addressing the immediate personal needs of aboriginal women and girls in the short term will lead to the necessary supports for families.