Transcript Shrugged off and brushed to the side”: Police (Non

“Shrugged off and
brushed to the side”:
Police (Non)Responsiveness to Families of Missing and
Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls
32nd Canadian Congress on Criminal Justice
Halifax, Nova Scotia
October 29, 2009
Outline
• Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC)
• Sisters In Spirit (SIS)
 SIS Education
 SIS Policy
 SIS Research
• Sisters In Spirit Research Results
• Stolen Sisters video
• “Shrugged off and brushed to the side”: Police
(Non)Responsiveness to Families of Missing and
Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls
The Native Women’s Association of Canada
• Goal to enhance, promote and foster the social,
economic and political well-being of Aboriginal women
• Current membership of 11 Native women’s organizations
across Canada, including the Nova Scotia Native
Women’s Association
• Incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1974
• NWAC engages in national strategies aimed at legislative
and policy reforms to promote equal opportunity for
Aboriginal women
Sisters In Spirit
• Multi-year research, education and policy initiative
addressing violence against Aboriginal women,
specifically the high numbers of missing and murdered
Aboriginal women and girls in Canada
• Better understand root causes of violence against
Aboriginal women and identify measures to increase
safety and well-being
• Honour women and girls who have been lost to violence
and remember those still missing
Sisters In Spirit Education
• Sisters In Spirit Vigils: “What are you doing on October
4th?”
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72 Vigils in 2009 across Canada
40 Vigils in 2008
30 Vigils in 2007
11 Vigils in 2006
 10 Community Engagement Workshops across Canada
each year
 4 community education tool kits
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Navigating the Missing Persons Process
Unlocking the Mystery of Media Relations
Raising Awareness
Safety Measures for Aboriginal Women
Sisters In Spirit Policy
1.
2.
3.
4.
Reduction of violence
Economic security
Access to justice
Reduction of the impact/number of children in the child
welfare system
Sisters In Spirit Research
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Sharing, caring, trust and strength
Community-based approach
Research for change process
Families are the experts; collaborative, reciprocal process
between equal partners
Methodology privileges the experiences of missing and
murdered Aboriginal women, girls and their families
Storytelling
SIS database
Limitations of research
Cases in Canada
Missing or Murdered
1%
8%
24%
67%
Missing
Murdered
Suspicious death
Unknown
Age
Unknown
21%
0-18
14%
46+
7%
31-45
21%
19-30
37%
Family Size
1 1 c hildre n
1
1 0 c hildre n
1
9 c hildre n 0
8 c hildre n 0
7 c hildre n
3
6 c hildre n
5
5 c hildre n
5
4 c hildre n
13
31
3 c hildre n
2 c hildre n
46
1 c hild
38
N o C hildren
0
12
10
20
30
40
50
Years of Incidents
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Before 1970
1970 to 1979
1980 to 1989
Missing women and girls
1990 to 1999
2000 to present
Murdered women and g irls
Clearance of Murder Cases
52% of cases cleared
43% of cases not cleared
5% unknown
Stolen Sisters
(FahrenheitFilms & Global)
video clip
“Shrugged off and brushed to the side”:
Police (non)Responsiveness to Families of
Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls
• Where We Have Been
 Background and Literature Review
• Where We Are
 Analysis of families of missing and murdered women’s
stories about their experiences with police
• Where We Will Go
 Discussion and Conclusion
Methodology
• “How do police respond to families of missing
and murdered Aboriginal women and girls?”
• Discourse analysis
• 15 stories shared by families of missing and
murdered Aboriginal women and girls
• Limitations:
 Differences between policing agencies
 Scope of interviews with families
 Changing perceptions over time
Where We Have Been
• Murder a “new” issue for Aboriginal
peoples/communities
• Colonization
• History of mistrust in Aboriginal-police relations
 “Historic” & “Modern”
• Aboriginal women’s perception of police
• Racial profiling in policing
Where We Are
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Frustration. Apathy. Fear. Distrust. Anger.
Racism and Stereotypes
“A Rough Time”
Communication
Where We Are
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Missing Persons Process
Searches
Positive Police Practices
Kind. Non-judgmental. Caring. Helpful.
Racism and Stereotypes
• “Drunken Indian” stereotype
 “Out partying”
 “She liked to party too much!” and she was a “Native
Indian and known alcohol and crack addict”
 Pictures of empty beer bottles
• Perceptions of racism
 Difference for Aboriginal women
 Just “another dead Indian”
 Despite being Aboriginal…
“A Rough Time”
• Strained relationships between police and families
• “Do you know how many women go missing
downtown?”
• Just a number
• Myths
 Wait one week to report disappearance
 Police will wait 48 hours to take action
• Affecting case outcomes
 Discouraged access to police service
 False promises of media publicity
Communication
• 8 families received at least one update
 Half received regular updates
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Minimum standards
Family’s persistence
One-sided
Language barriers
2 families never received an update
3 families felt police ignored them
Missing Persons Process
• 2 missing persons reports accepted immediately
• 6 missing persons reports not accepted
immediately
 “Maybe she doesn’t want to be found”
 Could not file as an adopted daughter
 “Trying to brush me off”
• “Accepted” report—but didn’t take it seriously
 “You will find her before we will”
 “She’ll come home on her own”
• 2 weeks to 7 months for real action
Searches
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8 families searched for their missing loved one
4 families never had police-led search
“Give us some time or give us a place to look”
2 families made and distributed their own
missing persons posters
• 4 families conducted interviews
• 5 families organized their own ground searches
• Communities stood in solidarity with families
Positive Police Practices
• Police honoured family’s request
 Work with a female, First Nation officer
 Police come to family home in plain clothing
• Police secure prime-time media coverage for missing
woman
• Officers worked overtime without pay to find and charge
murderers
• Dedicated officers promise to persevere on unsolved
cases
• Police helped murdered woman’s son attend court
proceedings while in custody
• Police introduced family to victim services
• Kind. Non-judgmental. Caring. Helpful.
Where We Will Go
• Violence against Aboriginal women requires
immediate public attention
 Barriers must be addressed and overcome
• Listening to communities and families is key
• Decolonization and reclaiming our ways of being
• Change on the horizon
 Saskatoon Police Service
• Families push for justice for their mothers,
daughters, grandmothers and sisters
Migwetch!
Wela’lin!
Thank you!
Merci!