Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne attends the Ontario Liberal Party’s 20th Annual Heritage Dinner in Toronto on March 30.Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail
The Ontario government committed more than $250,000 on Monday to research how police handle cases of violence perpetrated against indigenous women.
A 2004 Statistics Canada report says indigenous women aged 15 and older are 3.5 times more likely to be the victims of violence, including sexual assault, than non-indigenous women.
The money will "support research that will specifically draw on the lived experiences of indigenous survivors of sexual violence and examine how police respond to and investigate these crimes," said Yasir Naqvi, minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
The money comes from funds set aside to develop the Sexual Violence and Harassment Plan, which Premier Kathleen Wynne announced last year. The research will also help bolster Walking Together, a three-year, $100-million plan the Liberals launched in February to combat violence against indigenous women.
More than $128,000 will go to the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres, an organization that provides culturally based services to indigenous people across the province, particularly in urban areas.
The organization will immediately provide a safe space for women to share their experiences of sexual assault and expectations for change, executive director Sylvia Maracle said.
"It's not only voices, victims and survivors that are heard, but what's heard loud and clear is the systemic changes that have to occur," she said.
About $107,000 will go to the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, which will study First Nation police reporting, investigative practices, responses and support services on reserves, Mr. Naqvi said. The remaining money ($15,000) will go towards researching the effects of police involvement on sexual assault programs offered to indigenous women.
Mr. Naqvi said barriers preventing indigenous women from coming forward will be identified to hasten the delivery of needed services.
"Indigenous women probably don't feel safe to come forward and file a report or don't have confidence in the system, perhaps, that [the case] will be followed through," he said.
Ms. Maracle said there are additional barriers like language, geography and racism.
"Some of the distrust frankly comes from racism that now has been institutionalized," she said. "There are many barriers as a result of being indigenous, of being poor, of being a woman who has systemically and historically been marginalized in legislation. There are not responses that are unique to communities and there should be."
Mr. Naqvi was flanked by David Zimmer, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, and Tracy MacCharles, the minister for women's issues.
Mr. Zimmer wore a leather lapel pin representing the Moose Hide Campaign, a grassroots movement of men, regardless of race, supporting and protecting indigenous women and children against violence.
"Indigenous women should have justice that is fair and that is culturally supportive and sensitive," Mr. Zimmer said. "Ontario's plan is about helping more survivors feel it's safe to come forward. It's about better supporting them when they do come forward. This research will help us accomplish all three of these strategies."
In June, the Ontario government will launch an initiative on human trafficking, a problem that disproportionately affects indigenous women in Ontario.