(Ottawa – June 6, 2019) The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) calls for action on the 231 recommendations contained in the report on the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) released Monday.

“This report makes it clear that Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people have suffered from disproportionate rates of violence through our country’s history, with many being murdered or simply vanishing,” says CAUT executive director David Robinson. “The unacceptable gender-based violence they continue to face is shameful, and we urge the federal government to move forward on implementing the report’s Calls for Justice.”

The report caps over two years of cross-country hearings including testimony from some 2,000 survivors of violence, their families, and experts, and details the trauma and marginalization that have devastated many Indigenous communities.

“CAUT applauds the bravery and activism that inspired and drove the inquiry,” Robinson adds. “Now, we need to make the necessary legal and social changes not only so that no one suffers such injustice and inequity in the future, but also so that the wounds of the past are healed.”