In an ideal world, it would be great to have safe houses for aboriginal people near the communities, but we know that isn't the case today. I don't think that in a potential long-term action plan, it would be possible to have a safe house or an aboriginal resource.
However, since there aren't any in all the communities, the best thing right now would be crisis centres. If you have to drive an hour or two to get to a resource, that's very far. Often the women won't go there, or they'll stay in the community and everyone will know that. It's a matter of confidentiality. There should be crisis centres. That would make it possible to manage the situation, which is a matter of violence, regardless of the form it takes. We can also talk about suicide crisis centres. There should be adapted places of that kind.
A lot of aboriginal women wind up in non-aboriginal safe houses. Those houses are deprived because they don't know how to respond appropriately to these women in distress. I've been told that children often had to act as interpreters for their distressed mothers because they didn't speak English or French. When you're in distress, and you don't speak English or French, you speak your aboriginal language. So the children had to interpret for their mothers. Imagine the problem that caused for those children. They are witnesses, but they're also victims of violence in a way.
These women often come back to the safe house for a bit of respite. One caseworker told me that the process is very long. If you compare a non-aboriginal woman with an aboriginal woman, a non-aboriginal woman will somewhat understand that she is experiencing a violence cycle. So she will question herself and wonder what she'll have to do in order to take charge of her life. For an aboriginal woman, violence is normal; that's the way it is in her community. We also see that the subject is taboo; you must not talk about it. You have to become aware of everything she is going through. There is also the cycle of residential schools and all that. The healing process can taken two years, three years, before she realizes that and wonders what she's going to do with her life. She's going to think of herself because she has always thought about the greater well-being of her family, her children and the community.
During this respite time, she will rest, but she will always go back to her husband. Often it's because she has no choice. You didn't talk about marital property a little earlier. If she left her husband, she would lose everything. She'll lose her house and often she has no job. Most of the women don't work. She won't have a place to stay, and we know the vacancy rate is very low. So this is often a time to start over a little, to take a break. The cycle comes around often. These women often come back to the safe house with their four or five children. There are also very few suitable resources for those children.
Nakuset must have some statistics on the occupancy rate.