Canada has failed to protect indigenous women from violence, says UN official

Canada has failed to protect indigenous women from violence, says UN official

UN special rapporteur says Canadian government has repeatedly failed First Nations women and calls for national inquiry into decades-long epidemic

Tom McCarthy in New York
@TeeMcSee
Tuesday 12 May 2015 08.00 EDT

Canada has repeatedly failed to put an end to a decades-long epidemic of violence against First Nations women, according to the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, who renewed a call for a national inquiry into the problem.

Speaking to the Guardian in New York, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz said the government had taken some steps to try to protect Aboriginal women, including direct funding for about 30 organizations to reduce violence against them.

But she added: “That’s not enough. That’s not an adequate response.”

Tauli-Corpuz pointed to the killing of First Nations woman Cindy Gladue, who bled to death in a hotel bathtub in Edmonton in 2011 after she was stabbed by a trucker who prosecutors say had hired her as a prostitute.

The man accused of her murder, Bradley Barton, was found not guilty in March, a verdict which prompted outrage among activists. Following a national letter-writing campaign, the government said it would appeal the verdict.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/12/canada-violence-indigenous-first-nations-women