Eliminating structural violence against Indigenous women and girls

Recommendation 3: Increased state enforcement alone cannot eliminate violence against Indigenous women and girls because structural violence is connected to individual acts of male violence. A comprehensive national-level integrated action plan to eliminate violence against Indigenous women and girls must address all the socio-economic factors impacting Indigenous women’s, girls’, trans and two-spirit’s safety including equitable access and self-determination over land, culture, language, housing, child care, income security, employment, education, and physical, mental, sexual and spiritual health.

Legislative reform to reduce Indigenous women’s manufactured vulnerability

Recommendation 8: End the policing practice of street checks; reduce the number of bylaw infraction tickets issued by police in the DTES; prohibit police from carrying and using all lethal weapons; develop guidelines to facilitate greater use of police discretion not to lay charges especially for minor poverty-related offences; and end the counter-charging and criminalization of Indigenous women who defend themselves or their children.

Legislative reform to reduce Indigenous women’s manufactured vulnerability

Recommendation 9: Commit to using non-incarceration and alternative measures especially for minor offenses committed by Indigenous women. Governments must also provide sufficient and stable funding to Indigenous communities and organizations to provide alternatives to incarceration including community-based rehabilitation, diversion, community courts, and restorative justice methods geared towards Indigenous women.

Recommendation 12: End the criminalization of homelessness by eliminating bylaw infractions and criminal charges for sleeping or tenting in public spaces, and end the displacement of tent cities.

Recommendation 13: Change government definitions of social housing and affordable housing to mean rates that are affordable to people on social assistance, and rents that are income-geared not market-geared.

Legislative reform to reduce Indigenous women’s manufactured vulnerability

Recommendation 14: Amend the provincial Residential Tenancy Act to cover all housing and to strengthen tenants rights. Amend the provincial Human Rights Code and Residential Tenancy Act to make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of social condition including health status and drug use.

Recommendation 15: Implement an Indigenous reparations tax on top of property taxes on residential, commercial, and industrial properties, with all revenues going to implementation of an Indigenous poverty reduction plan.

Immediate services needed in the DTES

Recommendation 16: At least one multipurpose Indigenous Women’s Centre in the DTES that is run by and for Indigenous women with long-term funding and wrap-around supports including healing support, communal kitchen, child care facility, elder accompaniment, artisan training and vending, and 24/7 educational, cultural, recreational, and empowerment-based programming to bring Indigenous women together collectively. This would also serve as a single point of access to connect to integrated services.

Immediate services needed in the DTES

Recommendation 17: Fund more 24/7 low-barrier emergency shelters, transition homes, and drop-ins for women with long-term funding and full wrap-around supports. Also fund more Indigenous-centered and community-based, rather than police-based, victim services programs that provide holistic support including connection to land-based healing and guidance from elders.

Immediate services needed in the DTES

Recommendation 18: An Indigenous Health and Wellness Centre in the DTES and Indigenous-run health programs that use Indigenous methods to address physical, mental, sexual, emotional, and spiritual harms. Also fund more mobile healthcare vans and community-based clinics, street nurses, and healthcare providers in the DTES.