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Report charts abuse against men Many aboriginal males face violence, homicide and incarcerationDanielle Sachs Northern News Services Published Monday, December 3, 2012
They also face higher rates of spousal abuse when compared to non-aboriginal women. According to the 2004 report, using data from Statistics Canada, the number of homicides among aboriginal men is actually much higher than aboriginal women. While much attention has been focused on the rates of crime against women, Mary Ann Ross, former chair of the Inuvik Interagency Committee in Inuvik, says men are also a vulnerable population. The homeless shelter operates at full capacity every night, and coming into the holiday season, especially Christmas and New Year's, more people need to use the services. "Around this time of year, sometimes people need to get out of their house. It can be for different reasons," said Ross. "If you're quitting drinking and at your home people are drinking, it's a situation people want to get out of, so they'll stay at the shelter." Ross knows what it's like growing up in the North, suffering from extreme poverty. From her own experience, she has seen families getting into trouble with the law and spending time in jail. "There's a lot of violence but how much help is out there for men?" she said. "You have to look at where these people are coming from. These are young men not being able to finish school and people who are struggling to fit into a modern society where school is important, where there are all these other demands on them." Often, people don't want to ask for help, or are unsure of where to go. Growing up, getting into trouble can be seen as cool and that starts the cycle of going in and out of the justice system. "Some of these men are trying very hard but there's got to be a different approach," said Ross. "Growing up there you're not supposed to cry. Those men, they're keeping their frustrations to themselves." There's also a lack of services for men looking for help, along with a lot of cases that don't go reported, meaning the statistics may be a lot higher than they appear, she said. John Dempster, co-ordinator of the Inuvik Justice Committee, recently returned from the Restorative Justice Symposium in Winnipeg where he said a lot of the talks and discussions revolved around the high statistics of violence among aboriginal populations and possible solutions. "You look at what happens overseas. Canadians are outraged when there are injustices in other countries but where's the outrage when it's in your back yard," he said. There's an over-representation of the aboriginal population in the prison system across Canada, said Dempster, and aboriginal individuals are five times more likely to be remanded into custody than being granted bail. Working from Inuvik, Dempster recalled a case where a man was suffering from spousal abuse and was looking for a place to stay with his child. "There are places for women but this guy needed help and there was nowhere for him to stay the night," said Dempster. What's needed is a residential treatment centre, where people can be close to home but still access the help they need. "We're the fifth largest community North of 60 yet the closest program is in Hay River," he said. Dempster added that programs need to be more accessible and should not reject people who have not been sober for a set time before admittance. "If you decided to quit drinking and want to go somewhere for help, you shouldn't have to wait a few weeks before getting it. You're ready now," he said. Fact file Rates of violence Rates of homicide per 100,000 people: Aboriginal males: 12.2 Aboriginal females: 5.4 Non-aboriginal males: 1.8 Non-aboriginal females: 0.8 Spousal violence (previous unions) Aboriginal females: 40 per cent Aboriginal males: 31 per cent Non-aboriginal females: 20 per cent Non-aboriginal males: 15 per cent Source: Source: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada
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