Thank you.
Definitely, the first thing that policing needs to do is believe the woman and provide that trauma-informed response to her. They have to be able to do that. But we're also dealing with a systemically racist system, and that's where we have to look at changing that system and breaking down and removing that bias and racism, so they're able to respond to the women and girls and connect them to programming and services in the community that would be able to help support them.
One issue is around project-based funding. The supports and resources for women in the community may or may not be there, because it's based on short-term funding. It's not a long-term response. It's being able to build that response in the community to support them. How do we get the data, in a good way, on what's happening on the ground with the policing and the services in order to be able to look at it holistically and respond to this issue?
Experts are saying about 10% of HT victims report working better with frontline agencies. Sometimes it's not safe to go through the justice system. Women have told us that there is no justice in the justice system for them. The biggest part that women want to work on is their healing. We need to really look at where the healing supports are for indigenous women. That's a key piece that's missing here.