Role of the organization of American states in Canadian human rights: part 2.

• Author: McKay-Panos, Linda

This is a continuation of an earlier column about the Report on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women in British Columbia, Canada which was issued in December 2014 by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ("IACHR") of the Organization of American States.

The Report concludes with a series of recommendations to Canada [emphasis added]:

304. The IACHR makes the following recommendations, based on its close analysis of the situation of missing and murdered indigenous women in British Columbia. The IACHR notes the willingness and openness of the Canadian State, at both the federal and provincial levels, to discuss the situation, its causes, and how it can be further addressed. The IACHR also recognizes the steps already taken by the Canadian State, at both the federal and provincial levels, to address some of the particular problems and challenges that indigenous women and girls in Canada, and British Columbia specifically, must confront, a number of which have been identified in this report.

305. The disappearances and murders of indigenous women in Canada are part of a broader pattern of violence and discrimination against indigenous women in Canada. The fact that indigenous women in Canada experience institutional and structural inequalities resulting from entrenched historical discrimination and inequality is acknowledged by the Government of Canada and by civil society organizations. There is also agreement on certain root causes of the high levels of violence against indigenous women and the existing vulnerabilities that make indigenous women more susceptible to violence.

306. Addressing violence against women is not sufficient unless the underlying factors of discrimination that originate and exacerbate the violence are also comprehensively addressed. The IACHR stresses the importance of applying a comprehensive holistic approach to violence against indigenous women. This means addressing the past and present institutional and structural inequalities confronted by indigenous women in Canada. This includes the dispossession of indigenous lands, as well as historical laws and policies that negatively affected indigenous people, the consequences of which continue to prevent their full enjoyment of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. This in turn entails addressing the persistence of longstanding social and economic marginalization through effective measures to combat poverty, improve education and employment...