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Release date: May 19, 2021
Violence against First Nations, Métis and Inuit (Indigenous)1 persons has implications for all Canadians and reflects the history of violence and trauma of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Several generations of Indigenous peoples were impacted and continue to be impacted by colonialization and related policies that eroded cultural practices, violently suppressed language and religion, and dismantled Indigenous families and communities (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls 2019). The historical context of violence and trauma has set Indigenous families and communities on trajectories of disadvantage and created socioeconomic and health inequalities that have persisted across generations.
Indigenous peoples are more likely to experience violent victimization than non-Indigenous peoples. More specifically, Indigenous women and girls are at a disproportionate risk and face among the highest rates of violent and non-violent victimization of all population groups in Canada (Allen 2020; Boyce 2016; Perreault and Simpson 2016). As one of the most pervasive forms of violence against women in general (Conroy 2021), intimate partner violence-that is, violence committed by a current or former legally married or common-law spouse, or dating partner-is a key element of the violence experienced by Indigenous women, having impacts on victims2, their families and communities that are significant and long lasting.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) encompasses many behaviours and includes actions that are both criminal and non-criminal. Women are overrepresented as victims of IPV and have high rates of both self-reported and police-reported violence. In the context of their intimate partnerships, women may experience emotional and financial abuse as well as sexual assault, physical assault and homicide. Indigenous women are at an even greater risk and have one of the highest rates of spousal violence in Canada (Boyce 2016; Brennan 2011). Furthermore, Indigenous women are more at risk of experiencing violence by a spouse (Burczycka 2016) and in this context more often experience forms of violence considered to be the most severe-for example, homicide (Moreau et al. 2020) and being sexually assaulted, beaten or choked (Boyce 2016).
Various forms of IPV can result in both short- and long-term consequences, and impact the victim as well as their family and their community. Intergenerational trauma, the perpetuation of violence and victimization across generations, plays an important role in the prevalence of IPV...
