Canada's National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Begins

As the Canadian government officially begins its long-awaited national inquiry on September 1 into the country’s high rates of missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW), the reservations expressed by families and victims’ advocates when the panel was announced a month ago continue.

To begin with, there are not even firm statistics on how many women are being talked about, pointed out Dawn Lavell-Harvard, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC). Due to the dearth of data about the actual number of MMIW, accurate numbers are hard to come by. According to a 2015 report by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) about 1,200 indigenous women are missing or have been murdered. The NWAC, however, estimates the number at around 4,000. This alone handicaps the inquiry, Lavell-Harvard told CBC News.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/09/01/canadas-national-inquiry-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-begins-165645