To this day, Indigenous Communities continue to face extreme poverty, political discrimination, and a lack of governmental intervention when it comes to MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls).
Currently, there is a MMIW movement to raise awareness of the various forms of abuse that Indigenous women and girls experience. However, federal budget cuts have created a condition where there are minimal resources and supports available to help find these women. In addition, survivors and their families have limited access to help when it comes to coping with trauma inflicted by these experiences. The National Family and Survival Circle is a group of Indigenous women who advocate for justice, but funding cuts continue to increase barriers.
Over the past 7 years, the 4.3 billion dollars (Needham, 2022) the government had allocated towards the community went towards Indigenous housing. The Her organization has now stepped in to help put an end to violence and genocide. One of the ways they are working towards this goal is reaching out to the government to contribute funds for Indigenous families. The 231 calls for justice included reports of missing people, violence against girls/women, and the LGBTQ community.
Marc Miller is political reporter for a series about sexual traumas in Indigenous communities that shed light on Indigenous issues. He stated in one of his recent articles that the funding from 2021 was intended to address this violence, but still has not been deployed.
The specific issue is giving an insight on how the government has dedicated no funding to help these individuals. The article ends with Miller giving hope for the implementation of a plan to give Indigenous communities access to funding.
When it comes to Indigenous people, the government has very few resources to help them or fail to fulfil their promises. Since Indigenous peoples are part of a marginalised group, the government doesn’t always make an effort to decolonize and set plans for a better future.
Indigenous people have the right to voice their concerns and feel safe. The government has neither provided them with resources to make them feel safe or given them an opportunity to voice their concerns.
The government should take actions that would make Indigenous peoples feel safe. The MMIW movement advocates for women and putting “gender-based indigenous” violence to an end. It also sheds light on the disappearance of Indigenous women and women who are murdered.
Data shows that in 2018, rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls were very high. About 4 in 5 Indigenous women have experienced violence. Indigenous women are more prone to violence than white women; murder rates are 10 times higher for Indigenous women.
Indigenous issues are Canadian issues. We have a responsibility to get involved and find ways to help. Number one is education; the more people are educated on topics like this, the more awareness we can spread, which can help us combat discrimination due to misinformation. Secondly, use your voice; our voices have so much power and we can spread awareness on social media as well as in our communities by sharing ideas with one another. Lastly, promoting self care. It is difficult to talk about these topics, but we NEED to talk about them, so it is important that we look out for one another.
To conclude, the federal government should make an improved plan on how to support families that have been through traumatic experiences and deeply consider why this is happening in the first place. This will help us establish preventative measures.
Indigenous Communities were here first. We owe it to them and future generations to look out for each other.
Source:
Needham, F. (2022, April 12). NWAC says budget falls short when it comes to MMIWG and girls. APTN News. Retrieved January 18, 2023, from https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/nwac-says-budget-falls-short-when-it-comes-to-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls/