We live in a country where 4.3 per cent of the female population accounts for 16 per cent of homicides and 11.3 per cent of missing women, that’s not acceptable.
That’s especially true because that 4.3 per cent isn’t the population of a ghetto, or a highly concentrated urban centre or a remote town where law enforcement can’t intervene.
That small percentile is the Aboriginal-Canadian population.
The RCMP said in 2014 that in the past 30 years 1,181 cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women were reported. Of those, 1,017 were homicides and 164 are considered to be missing.
There are still 225 unresolved cases.
These cases aren’t just numbers and statistics. Some of these people are students, just like us.
At Algonquin, 41 per cent of students are between the ages of 20 and 24 and 36 per cent are under the age of 20.
These women are our age.
As a predominantly young population, it’s our responsibility to take ownership of Canada’s failure to protect one of its minorities.
26-year-old Loretta Saunders, a student at St. Mary’s University, was murdered in 2013.
Saunders was going to collect rent from her roommates when she went missing on Feb. 13. Almost two weeks later, her body was found in a highway median.
Saunders’ murder sparked controversy. The Green Party was the first to call for a national inquiry. The Conservative government rejected the inquiry, saying that these cases are not part of a sociological phenomenon.
The controversy also took place on the plains of social media. Holly Jarrett, who is Saunders’ cousin, started a campaign focused on promoting discussion about missing and murdered aboriginal women.
Jarrett’s campaign asked people to photograph themselves, holding a sign that said, “AmINext?” The campaign was not focused on raising money, simply awareness.
But the murders go on.
Tina Fontaine, 15, was found dead in the Red River. She had gone missing on Aug. 9, 2014; her body was recovered over a week later.
The Winnipeg Police Services are treating the case as a homicide but have still not publicly announced any arrests or charges related to the case.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has released a 125-page report acknowledging progress that has been made by federal and provincial governments but also outlining their failure to involve indigenous women in developing solutions for the issues that they face.
Amnesty International Canada supports the IAHCR’s report and is urging the province of British Columbia to live up to international human rights policies outlined in the report. They also advocate the cause with their No More Stolen Sisters campaign.
Rinelle Harper, 16, a student at Southeast Collegiate was found in critical condition on the Assiniboine Riverwalk, which is a popular pathway in central Winnipeg.
Two men, aged 20 and 17, have been charged with attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, and sexual assault with a weapon.
Harper was out with friends when she met the two men. The three of them separated from the group and went for a walk. The two allegedly assaulted her underneath a bridge along the Assiniboine River.
This case is important because Winnipeg Police Services worked in tandem with the public. They issued a press release, and used information from public callers to make their arrest.
Danny Smyth, Superintendent of Investigative Operations, further thanked the Harper family for allowing them to publicly identify an underage sexual assault victim.
We need to acknowledge that there is a sociological phenomenon and that these aren’t case by case occurrences.
Most importantly, we have to learn from the WPS investigation of Harper’s murder and work together to provide the proper authorities with any information to solve these crimes.
We need a national inquiry.