Pauktuutit leader calls for Inuit voices to be heard in fight against violence
Nancy Etok shares experience from meeting with Indigenous women from U.S., Mexico earlier this month in Mexico City
Pauktuutit president Nancy Etok, left, speaks at the Sixth Convening of the Trilateral Working Group on Violence Against Women and Girls in Mexico City, which ran Sept. 3 and 4. (Photo courtesy of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada)
Inuit voices must be included in conversations about ending violence against Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people, says Pauktuutit president Nancy Etok.
Etok attended a trilateral working group that included representatives from Canada, the United States and Mexico on Sept. 3 and 4 in Mexico City on behalf of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, the national non-profit Inuit women’s organization.
The meeting aimed to address the alarming rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls.
“We were able to share what kind of work we do at Pauktuutit,” Etok said, adding she also had the chance to listen to what Indigenous women had to say about finding solutions.
“If I were to close my eyes and just listen, all women were facing all of the same struggles with violence,” she said.
The trilateral working group was established as a result of the North American Leaders Summit in June 2016, which brought national leaders from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico together to discuss the “alarming” rates of violence against this demographic, a joint statement from the group released Sept. 5 said.
This month’s meeting marked the sixth time the working group has convened.
Etok said the discussions in Mexico City highlighted the ongoing failure by governments to implement promises made to Indigenous communities.
For Canada specifically, she said the federal government must be held accountable on following through on recommendations stemming from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
The MMIWG inquiry was hosted across Canada between 2016 and 2019. It gave Indigenous women and girls the chance to provide testimony about their experiences with violence, police, the justice system and other colonial systems.
In its final report, released in 2019, the inquiry said high rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls amounts to a genocide. It released 231 calls to action aimed at governments, institutions and the public.
“The Government of Canada has been given a clear path forward to end this genocide. What is lacking is political will,” said Etok.
In a joint statement from the meeting, the trilateral working group called on the three countries’ governments to respond to the group’s demands from previous years by Nov. 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The group wants to see a “matrix” of each of the trilateral group’s demands by year. It should provide corresponding information as to how the governments have responded to these demands, and include resources developed and future plans for continuing efforts on the group’s requests.
“Pauktuutit is going to keep asking on what the government committed to. They need to start delivering,” said Etok.
“Inuit women’s voices must be heard and it’s absolutely essential that Pauktuutit is included in those conversations because we have the ideas, we have the solutions, and we are ready.”
Members of the working group are scheduled to have quarterly meetings to allow Indigenous leaders to independently shape the group’s agenda and focus on priorities outside the influence of the three national governments. Indigenous leaders in the U.S. are set to host the first meeting on Jan. 15.
“With unwavering resolve and collective commitment to justice, we stand united in our mission to create a future where Indigenous rights are honoured, respected, upheld, and protected,” reads a portion of the group’s statement.
“The Government of Canada has been given a clear path forward to end this genocide. What is lacking is political will”
I hope the incoming Conservative government defunds these useless groups, they do nothing but deflect, blame and fabricate mythical narratives that distort reality, and for what? To elicit an endless funding stream that will maintain a comfortable living for themselves in perpetuity.
This is unique to Canada. No other country in the world treats indigenous peoples with such regard. You can watch a year’s worth of national news in the US and not once hear about Native American issues, but in canada our liberal broadcasting laws require that a certain percentage of programming highlights indigenous issues (or non-issues). Our government is responsible for the harms to indigenous people a long time ago but also responsible for the perpetual social conditioning of indigenous peoples that are only benefiting the few while keeping the masses waiting for the next piece of the pie
Condolences to all family members who have a sister, mother, auntie, female friend or grandmother through violence, conjugal violence or domestic violence. I would like to know when and if there will be or is there an organization for boys, men, uncles or grandfathers who were also murdered/
On March 19, 2018, my 19 year old handsome son was brutally murdered by violence. We hear about MMIWG but what about the men? We or I have to feel as though no one organization is really interested in hearing the survivors stories or how we feel.
Just my thought on the matter.
‘what about the men!’ never fails whenever pauktutit or QSWC is mentioned despite the demographic of perpetrators of violence is vastly represented by men. Go start your own mens support group and maybe teach them not to rape and murder women when they feel rejected.
‘Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them’ -Margaret Atwood
Facepalm, with your post I guess you haven’t had a son who was brutally murdered. My youngest son had his entire life to live for. I have researched on the internet and have asked the governments to help with the abuse of men by women or their spouses. Men too are abused mentally, emotionally and physically by their significant other. I have participated in the MMIWG meetings in the past. I know of 3 cousins and family members who were murdered and 2 of my cousins were never found and they will never be found. Slap in the face. Yes. Totally. I know and have seen the violence, domestic violence and spousal violence does happen to the Inuit female culture but what isn’t being talked about is the emotional, physical, verbal and mental abuse that men also go through on a daily basis. You have men being accused of child abuse and sexual abuse but this happens because the significant other or their parents hold resentment, anger and hate towards the male partners. The quote you typed : Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them’ -Margaret Atwood is from a different culture. Does she know that men and boys are abused daily. Or was this quote from hers from the 70’s or 80’s? I do Pray that you will never have to go through the trauma and grieving stages a father or mother has to go through when a child of theirs is brutally murdered. I am not a keyboard warrior as you. I have used my true identity to try and help other men who are going through similar circumstances and try to better their lives instead of being judged. I do hope you have an enjoyable day.
I’m sorry to hear your story, Bernie. And I wish you all the best in your long recovery from your loss of Robert. I, too, wish that men’s issues could be brought to light, unfortunately it seems at this point there are far too few that care to know.
“if practical, hardline, anti-male feminists took over and became the government, I would resist them”
-Margaret Atwood
“Inuit women’s voices must be heard and it’s absolutely essential that Pauktuutit is included in those conversations because we have the ideas, we have the solutions, and we are ready.”
– Pauktuutit who just layed off an entire department of Inuit women, with no explanation, who had ideas, solutions, and were ready. whatever that means..
“Inuit women’s voices must be heard and it’s absolutely essential that Pauktuutit is included in those conversations because we have the ideas, we have the solutions, and we are ready.”
not a naysayer, but, please bring it, we need solutions. not being hypercritical, why hold the solutions back? you are ready, please bring the solutions.
They don’t have solutions, they have goals, the most important being the prestige and status of their organization. Anything said here must be understood as a vehicle in service of those goals.
well they shouldn’t say they have solutions and that they are ready.
Agreed. To be fair, perhaps this would be a good time for our editor to connect with Pauktuutit and ask then to expand on that claim.