Good morning.
I'd like to begin by acknowledging that we're gathered on the territory of the Algonquin people, and that we are in a time of truth and reconciliation with the first peoples of Canada. By so doing, we are also acknowledging the overrepresentation of our indigenous peoples in all systems of oppression.
I have submitted a fairly lengthy brief to the committee, which has not been translated, but the clerk will eventually circulate it to you. It's very fact-based. I really didn't think today was the day to stay super focused on facts, because the facts are irrefutable. The poorest people in this country, the highest rates of unemployment, from an intersectional perspective, belong to women with disabilities and deaf women, without question.
I do have a few facts I can highlight, but I thought it would be more important, again, to invite you to read and review the report when you have it, because the statistics are fairly solid and compelling. In fact, the Government of Canada has, by three UN bodies—the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and under CEDAW—essentially been told that it has been failing women and girls with disabilities and it is time for action.
As mentioned in the call for briefs from the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, we will focus on the realities of disabled women who are poor, income-related statistics, as I noted in the report, their employment readiness, and working conditions in order to examine the impact on their well-being.
About 1.5 million women in Canada are unemployed. Of those, 629,000.... Actually, I'm going to stop with the statistics. I said I wasn't going to do it, and I won't, because it's too difficult to do.
There were a few that I thought were important to mention. When we're talking about the situation of women with disabilities, we're talking about women with disabilities having an average revenue of $4,000 less than non-disabled women. Again, in a juxtaposition of women and poverty, women with disabilities have an important difference in income.
I have another statistic that is important when we're talking about intersectionality.
Let us recall that, in 2007, the federal report on disability estimated the rate of disability in aboriginal communities at over 30%. That was reaffirmed in the report by Amanda Burlock, which indicated a higher prevalence of disability among first nations women as compared to men, and also among women who are not first nations.
I would add that racialized and disabled aboriginal women are overrepresented among poor women.
In terms of the focus of my presentation, it's to actually speak about women with disabilities who are invisible to this committee, to data and statistics. The reason I do that is this is where we need to go in terms of better understanding those women who are invisible. I'm speaking specifically of homeless women. I'm speaking about women with traumatic brain injuries, many of whom have experienced traumatic brain injuries through violence. The data is beginning to show, as some committee members who've heard me present before on the issue of violence know, that the number of women who become disabled through violence is much higher than is currently understood.
I remind the committee of women who are trafficked. Again, when we are talking about the data, you can assume that between 25% and 35% of women who are trafficked, whether it's for labour or sex, are women with disabilities.
I remind the committee of trans women with disabilities, racialized women with disabilities, and those intersections, and how important it will be for you to think of not just black women, indigenous women, or women in prisons but to always think from an intersectional perspective, and to understand that when that intersection includes disabilities, they are the most marginalized.
In terms of recommendations, with the limited time we have, I bring forward a quote from Sebastian Buckup of the International Labour Organization. He states:
This is useful to indicate that people with disabilities are less productive not because they are “disabled” but because they live and work in environments that are “disabling”. This is of crucial importance to the message the analysis wants to transmit: it makes economic sense to create an environment that is supportive for people with disabilities.
Of course, our federal government is coming forward with new federal accessibility legislation that will touch on some areas of our lives in that regard. I understand, too, that the federal government and all of you, and your most important work, need to be working with your provincial and territorial counterparts on this issue, because these things, programs and services, are delivered through provincial and territorial labour market agreements. It's important to see this as an opportunity to really begin focusing on the populations in your discussions in terms of who is most affected.
It's about 10 years ago to this month—it's a little longer than that now—that our first presentation was made by my president and me. That was in 2007. In that presentation, we mentioned several things that I find still have a great deal of resonance today: separating income programs for disability-related supports and services; creating a stable environment in which persons can move between paid employment and income support with ease; increasing the sick leave benefits for unemployment insurance; extending the definition of employment support and accommodation to the domestic sphere; forums for information exchange and support groups which provide a valuable resource for women with disabilities trying to enter the labour market, and societal attitudes.
DAWN Canada is currently piloting the first employment program for young women with disabilities in Montreal with our partners from the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work. We're only about six months into this program, and again, it's the only one of the four pilots that is focused on women and girls exclusively.
Early evidence bears out what is very clear, which is that it is really important to understand the intersection of disability and gender has a huge impact on employment. The unemployment rate for some women in this country, in the maritime region for example, is up to 75%.
I could belabour the point of poverty, but again, the point's been made. When we're talking about indigenous women with disabilities, we are absolutely talking about the very worst off.
Coming back to those forgotten women, episodic and chronic illness...and some of the data that I had was one of the other things. There are two pieces. One is from Michael Prince and Yvonne Peters, who did a study with the Council of Canadians with Disabilities on poverty:
More than four in ten disabled women in low-income households or 43.7% do not receive at least one of the support services required for their daily activities, such as meal preparation, household tasks, errands, finances, personal care, mobility inside the home, and so forth. The same is true for less than one disabled women in three or 30.7% of women with income above the LICO.
As I said, I provided you with a comprehensive, precise report including detailed statistics.
The bottom line, ladies and gentlemen, is that the poorest and the highest unemployment rates belong to women with disabilities and deaf women in this country.
I could sit here and provide resources. I could provide statistics, but what we really need is leadership from this committee. We've had some important leadership from the federal government, including from Status of Women Canada and the minister. Placing women with disabilities as one of the most important groups to address, from both a social and an economic perspective, must be something that you support.
Thank you.