CBC News: Report Calls Murder and Disappearance of Women a 'Canadian Genocide'
Indigenous women and supporters called on law enforcement around the world to take the murders and disappearance of Indigenous people more seriously. In Minnesota, at least 5 Native American women have been killed or have disappeared in the last 2 years. In Canada, there are currently around 1,000 cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. Illustration by: Fibonacci Blue
The thousands of Indigenous women and girls who were murdered or disappeared across the country in recent decades are victims of a "Canadian genocide"
This is the conclution in the final report of the national inquiry created to probe the ongoing tragedy, accroding to CBC News, who has obtained the final report and verified it by sources.
"We do know that thousands of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual) have been lost to the Canadian genocide to date," said the report, titled Reclaiming Power and Place.
Some estimates have suggested roughly 4,000 Indigenous women have been murdered or have disappeared over the past few decades. The inquiry report said the true number may be impossible to establish.
230 recommandations
The report runs to over 1,200 pages and includes more than 230 recommendations, reports CBC News.
The recommendations include a call to change the Criminal Code to treat cases of homicides involving intimate partner violence as first-degree murder, and for a review of the use of the 'Gladue principle' in cases involving the deaths of Indigenous women and girls.
Two-and-a-half years of work
It's being released at a ceremony Monday at the Museum of History in Gatineau, Que. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and cabinet ministers, Indigenous leaders and family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls are expected to attend.
The report is the culmination of two-and-a-half years of work by the $92 million National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, which was beset by a number of setbacks throughout its operations, including the loss of a commissioner and two executive directors and a high staff turnover.
24 hearings
The inquiry has held 24 hearings and events to gather statements across Canada since 2017. Those events were attended by more than 2,380 Canadians, including family members of missing and murdered women and girls, survivors of violence, Indigenous knowledge keepers, experts and officials, writes CBC News.
The inquiry's report acknowledges that there are disagreements over what constitutes genocide and whether it could relate to Canada.