Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in honour of International Women's Day, I want to speak once again about the importance and value of Indigenous women and girls within our society.
Mr. Speaker, in all of the country and all across the Northwest Territories, you will find many brilliant, beautiful, capable, and resilient Indigenous women and girls who have much to offer in this world. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, but in most Indigenous cultures, women and girls are highly regarded and they hold a very important role in the functioning in our communities. Besides the fact that these women are the primary caregivers for our children and elders, they are also natural leaders in everyday life. However, Mr. Speaker, in contrast to these very positive aspects of our Indigenous women and girls, it is unfortunate and quite sad that this same population faces a level of violence and death unlike any other population in the country. Bullying and collateral violence from our very own people also contributes to the harm done to very beautiful strong women and girls.
Mr. Speaker, since the founding of Canada, Indigenous women and girls have been forced to deal with racism, sexism, and colonialism on a daily basis. And it is from these systems of oppression where the entire issues of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls began in the first place and continues to exist to this day.
Mr. Speaker, according to selfreported data from the 2019 General Social Survey on Canada's Safety, 26 percent of Indigenous women experience sexual violence by an adult during their childhood compared to 9.2 of nonIndigenous women. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also, according to data from the RCMP, Indigenous women represent 10 percent of all missing women in Canada despite accounting for only about 3 percent of the total Canadian female population. And according to Statistics Canada, Indigenous women have a homicide rate that is almost six times higher than nonIndigenous women.
Mr. Speaker, on a day like today, International Women's Day, where we honour and recognize all the achievements of the women of the world, we also must remember the more troubling aspects of some of our women and girls. We must not forget the Indigenous women and girls who have never returned home who had such a great potential to live full lives to share with the world. We will remember them. And with that in mind today, Mr. Speaker, on this important International Women's Day, I would like to say I would like to send a message to all the women that are in here and to all the grandmothers, to mothers, to the aunties, to the daughters, to the nieces, that I would like to say be safe and today is an important day for all of us. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.
