Fri., December 10, 2021
A beaded heart tapestry by he Native Women's Association of the NWT was displayed at the opening ceremonies of the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Yellowknife. The N.W.T. released its draft action plan in response to the inquiry's final report.
(Claudiane Samson/CBC - image credit)
The government of the Northwest Territories released its draft action plan in response to the 2019 final report of the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Caroline Wawzonek said the action plan, Changing the Relationship, takes a multi-pronged approach to reducing gender-based violence in the territory.
"Change, of course, must happen if we are to end violence directed at Indigenous women and girls and gender-diverse people," she said. "This draft action plan is a step towards that change.
"It lists 95 actions that outline how the G.N.W.T. will work to address the calls for justice and address systemic causes of violence, inequality and racism."
'We're being asked to end a genocide'
The actions include increasing funding for the Native Women's Association of the N.W.T., supporting more on-the-land healing programs and starting a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls advisory committee.
The government is also looking to do more cultural safety and anti-racism training for employees, review grade school curriculum through an Indigenous lens, and develop culturally-relevant gender-based analysis tools to determine the impact of policies, programs and services on Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ people.
And, said Wawzonek, there will be a lot more work to do, even once the plan is in place.
"Really, we're being asked to end a genocide," she said. "That's what the national [report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls] found — that there was a genocide — and we're being asked to find a way to end it.
"I'm not sure there's one magic thing that will do that until we have a paradigm shift in how we govern, why we govern and why we do the things we do. [And] for now, we're starting here."
According to the RCMP, there are currently at least nine open cases of missing Indigenous women in the N.W.T., and in 2019, there were over 2,500 police-reported instances of violence against women and girls in the territory.
The N.W.T. government intends to finalize the action plan by the summer of 2022. In the meantime, the government is consulting with affected communities to make sure their priorities are included in the plan.
"Before we finalize the document, we will be engaging with Indigenous governments, community governments, people with lived experience and indeed all Northwest Territories residents on our proposed responses to the calls for justice," said Wawzonek.
She said she believes the plan can start to have an impact well before the final version is tabled.
"I'm not waiting on the final [version] for us to start making sure that we are aligning ourselves to the actions here, and I don't believe other ministers necessarily are either," she said.
The government of the Northwest Territories released its draft action plan in response to the 2019 final report of the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Caroline Wawzonek said the action plan, Changing the Relationship, takes a multi-pronged approach to reducing gender-based violence in the territory.
"Change, of course, must happen if we are to end violence directed at Indigenous women and girls and gender-diverse people," she said. "This draft action plan is a step towards that change.
"It lists 95 actions that outline how the G.N.W.T. will work to address the calls for justice and address systemic causes of violence, inequality and racism."
'We're being asked to end a genocide'
The actions include increasing funding for the Native Women's Association of the N.W.T., supporting more on-the-land healing programs and starting a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls advisory committee.
The government is also looking to do more cultural safety and anti-racism training for employees, review grade school curriculum through an Indigenous lens, and develop culturally-relevant gender-based analysis tools to determine the impact of policies, programs and services on Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ people.
And, said Wawzonek, there will be a lot more work to do, even once the plan is in place.
"Really, we're being asked to end a genocide," she said. "That's what the national [report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls] found — that there was a genocide — and we're being asked to find a way to end it.
"I'm not sure there's one magic thing that will do that until we have a paradigm shift in how we govern, why we govern and why we do the things we do. [And] for now, we're starting here."
According to the RCMP, there are currently at least nine open cases of missing Indigenous women in the N.W.T., and in 2019, there were over 2,500 police-reported instances of violence against women and girls in the territory.
The N.W.T. government intends to finalize the action plan by the summer of 2022. In the meantime, the government is consulting with affected communities to make sure their priorities are included in the plan.
"Before we finalize the document, we will be engaging with Indigenous governments, community governments, people with lived experience and indeed all Northwest Territories residents on our proposed responses to the calls for justice," said Wawzonek.
She said she believes the plan can start to have an impact well before the final version is tabled.
"I'm not waiting on the final [version] for us to start making sure that we are aligning ourselves to the actions here, and I don't believe other ministers necessarily are either," she said.
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