20 years on from landmark report, advocates urge Canadian government to act on violence against Indigenous women

Giovanni Torre Published October 7, 2024 at 1.45pm (AWST)

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Indigenous advocate Bridget Tolley holds a pan of burning sacred medicine at Canada's Parliament Hill. Image: Emma Weller (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

Advocates have urged the Canadian government to do more to reduce violence against Indigenous women, at a Sisters in Spirit Vigil on Friday in the nation's capital.

The gathering on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, commemorated missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people.

The vigil marked 20 years since Amnesty International published its Stolen Sisters Report, which noted, among other factors, that poor record keeping made it impossible to accurately quantify the disproportionate levels of violence Indigenous Canadian women experience.

The CBC reports that event organiser Bridget Tolley told the gathering: "We've been asking for truth, accountability and justice here on Parliament Hill for 20 years. I think this is enough."

"What happened to the first recommendations we had 20 years ago with the Stolen Sisters report? How many recommendations have we had since? How many have been done? Why are we still here asking for the same things we asked for 20 years ago?" Ms Tolley said.

In 2019 a national inquiry released the findings of its three-year study into violence against First Nations women. Since then, few of the reports 231 recommendations have been addressed by authorities in Canada.

The landmark report said Indigenous women in Canada face a homicide rate nearly six times higher than for non-Indigenous women.

After speaking at the vigil, Ms Tolley had her braid cut as an act of mourning and the hair ceremonially burned in a pan with sacred medicines.

CBC reports that Amnesty International Canada secretary general Ketty Nivyabandi spoke, holding up a cassette tape carrying the voice of women who contributed to the original Stolen Sisters report two decades ago.

"I brought it here to remind you that their voices live. The spirit lives. It will not be erased. We hear their voices today," she said.

Ms Nivyabandi urged the Canadian government to devote more resources to reducing violence against Indigenous women.

"We need to do better, we cannot come back in 20 years from now to continue to ask for action," she said.