VAWnet News Blog

Native women have been on the receiving end of many injustices. These injustices include homelessness and various forms of physical and sexual violence. Native women experience high rates of homelessness. Native women also have the highest rate of domestic violence and rape of any group of women. To support Native survivors, we must understand the historical context of their experiences.

Front-line workers are calling for more support for Indigenous families after a Statistics Canada analysis found First Nations, Inuit and Métis women are more likely to experience physical or sexual assault in their lifetime if they were in government care as children.

Efforts are under way to get emergency contraception into Ukrainian hospitals as quickly as possible, as reports of rape after the Russian invasion continue to rise. Charities describe logistical problems delivering morning-after pills and medical abortion drugs, and stress time is of the essence.

"I do a lot of work to end violence against women and girls," says Palexelsiya Lorelei Williams, a well-known advocate from the Skatin and Sts'Ailes First Nations. "When creating the group, I just thought of butterflies because like so many women they are transformative, strong and resilient."

The United Nations has called for the increasing reports of rape and sexual violence against Ukrainian women and children during the Russian invasion of the country to be independently investigated.

The time is long over-due for the mainstream to take on the social justice framework and over 40-years of feminist analysis, we so eloquently educate others on, and apply this to the actions of our own doing within our organizations.