Native advocates not surprised by high rate of violent crime

Tuesday, February 26, 2013  

Native advocates aren't surprised by high rates of violence against women, particularly in certain provinces and territories in Canada.

The national rate of violence against women is 1,207 victims per 100,000 people, Statistics Canada reported. But in provinces with large Native populations, the rates are much higher -- 2,191 per 100,000 in Manitoba; 2,681 per 100,000 in Saskatchewan; 4,601 per 100,000 in the Yukon; 11,193 per 100,000 in the Northwest Territories and a whopping 15,453 per 100,000 in Nunavut, the mostly Inuit territory.

“When you have a population that has been highly traumatized, of course you’re also going to see likely more incidents of the symptoms of that trauma — family violence being one of them,” Tim Wall, the director of counseling services for Klinic Community Health Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, told CBC News.

Anna Pazdzierski, the executive director of Nova House in Selkirk, Manitoba, tolc CBC that Native women are eight times more likely to be victims of violent crime.

Get the Story:
Manitoba rate of violence against women double national rate (CBC 2/25)

Statistics Canada Report:
Violence against women, 2011 (February 2013)