9. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF WOMEN Promotion and protection

9. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF WOMEN
Promotion and protection of the fundamental rights of
aboriginal women
Government policy
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The government p lans to more approp riately adapt its health and social services to the
cultural and geograp hic realities of the various aborigin al communities and northern p eop les.
•
Sp ecial sup p ort must be available to the most vulnerable in our society . This means that we
must be able to take into account the particular needs of aboriginal and northern p eop les.
•
Québec will lend its supp ort to the development of the aborigin al nations, with whom it
shares a history, roots and a territory . In June 2003, the government and the regional chiefs of
the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador agreed to set up a Joint Council of
Elected Rep resentatives, a p olitical discussion forum to further develop our relations. It was
agreed at that time that the Council would address the issue of services to the aborigin al
pop ulation, both on and off the reserve.
Source: Shine among th e Best
Obstacles or some striking observations
•
The situation of aborigin al women in Québec is as dramatic as it is in the other Canadian
provinces, as described in Canada's Response to th e UN Questionnaire to Governments on
Implementation o f the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) – Jun e 2004.
•
40% of aboriginal families live in p overty . The lack and p oor quality of housing are serious
problems, which could increase the risk of tension and violence.
•
The average annu al birth rate for aboriginal teen age mothers is five to six times higher than
the p rovincial average.
•
The school dropout rate among y oung aborigin als is 10% in p rimary school and 50 % by the
third y ear of secondary school.
•
61.8 % of aborigin al women say they earn less than $10,000 a y ear compared to 42.7% of
aboriginal men.
•
From 1994 to 1999, 25% of aboriginal women were assaulted by their sp ouses or commonlaw sp ouses, comp ared to 8% for non-aboriginal women.
Source: Les femmes autoch tones du Québec : La problématique de la violence, Secrétariat à la
condition fémin ine, Ap ril 2004.
Challenges
The major challen ge is to help improve the livin g conditions of aboriginal women, p articularly as
concerns violence and health.
Issues
Domestic violen ce, sexual assault, discrimin ation, justice and the administration of justice are all
issues of concern.
Accom plishments
•
Comité interministériel de coordin ation en matière de violence conjugale, familiale et
sexuelle (Interdep artmental committee on the coordination of domestic, family and sexu al
violence)
•
Comité trip artite Femmes-Justice (Tripartite committee – Women and Justice)
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Sous-comité d e travail sur la discrimination et la vio lence dont sont victimes les travailleuses
du sexe (Subco mmittee on discrimination and v iolen ce toward sex-trade workers)
•
The Government of Québec funds 104 off-reserve shelters across Québec for women victims
of domestic violen ce and their children. About 10 of these shelters harbour aboriginal women
each y ear. M ontréal has one shelter for aborigin al women and the Nunavik region three:
Tungaasuvik in Kuujjuaq, Tunnavik in Kuujjuarap ik and Initsiak in Sallu it. In addition, five
federally funded shelters are located on the reserves to serve the aboriginal communities:
Haven House in Listugu j (Restigouch e), Wasey a House in Kitigan Zibi (Maniwaki),
Tip inuakan in Uashat (Sep t-Îles), Ashp ukun M itshuap in M atimekosh–Lac-John
(Schefferville), and Asp erimowin in La Tuque, which serves the three Attikamek
communities of M anawan, Wemotaci and Opitciwan.
Québec has two other shelter p rojects—Missinak in Québec City , which op ened in the
sp ring of 2004, and the Obedjiwan family p roject.
• The seven off-reserve Native Friendship Centres are recogn ized as non-p rofit community
organ izations. They offer a wide range of services to aborigin als in urban centres. They are
members of Regroupement des centres d’amitié autochtones du Québec inc. and are
p rimarily funded by the M inistère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québ ec.
• The Centres d’aide aux victims d’actes criminals (CAVAC) (crime victims’ assistance
centres) are non-profit community organizations that have been reco gnized by the M inister
of Justice since 1987. There are 16 crime victims’ assistance centres scattered across all
judicial districts of Québec. Two of these centres—one in Abitibi and the other in Sep t-
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Îles—provide services to aborigin al women. On February 13, 2004, the government
announced the establishment of a new centre in Kuujjuaq in Nunavik. In comin g y ears, the
Government of Québec p lans to focus p articular attention on the development of assistance
services for crime victims in the aborigin al communities.
• The Centres d’aide et de lutte contre les agressions à caractère sexuel (CALACS) (sexu al
assault centres) are non-p rofit community organizations serving mainly y oung girls and
women who are victims of sexu al assault. There are 32 centres throughout the admin istrative
regions. In 2001-2002, funding of $105,000 was p rovided for women living in the North to
supp ort women’s groups in the region and help them develop services for sexual assault
victims. An amount of $50,000 was also granted to the Abitibi-Témiscamin gue centre to
develop a p roject for aboriginal women from the Piko gan commun ity , and an additional
$50,000 was granted the followin g y ear to continue the p roject. In 2002-2003, an amount of
$120,000 was p rovided on a recurring basis to develop services in the northern regions—
$50,000 to the Nord-du-Québec region, $35,000 to the Nunavik region and $35,000 to the
Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James region. The Côte-Nord centre p rovides supp ort to aboriginal
women who call on its services.
• The background p ap er on the imp lementation of the 1996-2001 government commitments
enshrined in the Politique d’intervention en matière de v iolence conju gale, Prévenir,
dépister, contrer la violence conjugale (Intervention Policy on domestic violence,
Preventing, iden tifying and coun tering domestic violence) was released in January 2003. The
Government of Québec’s new action p lan on domestic violence was unveiled in December
2004. The safety of women victims of domestic violence and their children and redu ced
social toleran ce of v iolent behaviour are corn erstones of the government’s new 2004-2009
p lan.
• In Orientations gouvernementales en matière d’agression sexuelle (2001) (Government
p olicy on sexual assault), the Government of Québec co mmitted to supp orting reflection and
action by aboriginal sexu al assault organizations, namely Québec Native Women Inc. and
the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and So cial Services Commission, for the
Amerindian nations, and the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Serv ices for the
Inuit nation. The action p lan calls for the hiring of aboriginals in crime victim assistance
centres (CALACS) and sexual assault centres (CAVAC) in regions with aboriginal
clienteles.
Source: Les femmes autochtones du Québec : La problématique de la violen ce, Secrétariat à la
condition fémin ine, Ap ril 2004.
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