Address by Ms. Kate Gilmore, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council

The causes and consequences of violence against indigenous women and girls, including those with disabilities

Geneva, 20 September 2016

Mr. President, Members of the Human Rights Council,
Excellences, colleagues and friends,

I am very pleased to open this panel, which will build upon the panel held at the 32nd session of the Council, on "Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls and its root causes".

At that panel, we heard from indigenous women from several regions, and there was a striking commonality to the challenges the panelists presented: Discrimination, poverty, forced removal from ancestral lands as some of the root causes of violence against indigenous women; the lack of reliable data on gender-based violence; and shortcomings in justice systems leading to impunity and lack of redress.

This panel starts from the premise that violence against indigenous women takes place in both the private and the public sphere. It will address structural, systemic, public forms of violence experienced by indigenous women and girls in contemporary society, with a focus on access to justice and the ways in which indigenous women's right to justice is impeded.

Panellists will also examine the causes and consequences of violence against indigenous women with disabilities, who suffer from multiple forms of discrimination.

[Violence against indigenous women]

We know that widespread violence against indigenous women is underlined and heightened by indigenous women's markedly unequal position in society – and compounded by multiple forms of discrimination.

Although quantitative data is often missing, there is ample evidence that indigenous women and girls have been and are at disproportionate risk of physical, emotional and sexual violence, and at disproportionate risk of being married as children, of being trafficked, of undergoing forced sterilization, or of being exchanged for a bride price in some parts of the world.

We also know that violence against indigenous women cannot be separated from broader violations of indigenous peoples' rights, including to their lands and resources – it is abundantly clear that where such violations are common, so is violence against indigenous women. Large scale development projects and extractive industry imposed on indigenous peoples’ lands and territories can lead to violence, as well as displacement, which in itself often is another cause of violence.

This year's landmark decision in the Sepur Zarco case in Guatemala shows that access to justice for the gravest violations of women's rights can be achieved. For the first time in the history of Guatemala, sexual violence committed during the country's military conflict in the 1980s has been successfully prosecuted, leading to the conviction of two former members of the military to 360 years in jail for the murder, rape and sexual enslavement of indigenous women. The indigenous women who prosecuted those responsible for such horrific crimes showed enormous bravery and set important precedent against rape as a crime of war. Years of support, from psychological to legal remedies, by many Guatemalan civil society actors, by our office in Guatemala and by the Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and by UN Women helped bring justice to these women.

This is but one example of our efforts to support access to justice for indigenous women across the world, and we are encouraged by the welcome attention that the Council is giving to this grave human rights violation through the two panels held this year.

Although the example from Guatemala is encouraging, the truth of the matter is that indigenous women who have suffered violence face too many barriers for accessing justice. Why? Because they may not be aware of their rights and services and protections available to them (such as free legal aid), or these may not even exist (in remote or rural areas, for example). Because judicial remedies and mechanisms are often not available to indigenous women owing not only to geographical distance, but also because of language and cultural factors, and – let us be honest - because of sheer discrimination. Because too many instances of discrimination and even harassment of courageous indigenous women who reported abuse in the past have in some places generated mistrust in domestic criminal justice systems. And because barriers exist also within indigenous justice systems: In many countries they have been denied recognition. And where they exist, they can be male dominated and also hold discriminatory and victim-blaming attitude towards women victims.

Against this background, it is all the more worrying that indigenous women are also over-represented as offenders in many countries, indicating a victim-offender cycle. indigenous women are over-represented in the criminal justice systems in countries where data is available, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. While approximately two percent of the Australian female population identify as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, indigenous women make up one third of the female prison population. Similarly, while indigenous peoples in Canada represent 4.3% of the population, indigenous women represent 33.6% of all federally sentenced women.

So, what can be done to overcome the situation?  Let me offer six points.

First, indigenous women who have lived experiences of violence know what is best needed to prevent and address such violence. But there is often insufficient direct engagement with indigenous women. Policy and programs may have been devised by government with the best intentions, but if they were not consulted with the affected communities they risk lacking their support and in cultural sensitivity. States and other actors need to regard indigenous women as equal and valuable partners and engage in meaningful and appropriate forms of partnership to address violence against women.

Empowerment of indigenous women through their own organizations and networks is also required.  Indigenous women should participate in public life and decision-making - being represented at the senior level of all human rights institutions and in all sectors of government and law enforcement in order to address such violence and improve system-wide responses with culturally sensitive approaches… whether as police, prosecutors, lawyers, and judges, or in the medical and health workforce as doctors, psychologists and counselors.

Second, we must acknowledge and provide remedy for historical abuses of indigenous communities to end their vulnerability which is otherwise perpetuated. For example, indigenous women are at an increased risk of having their children taken from them as they are more likely to be a victim of domestic violence and the State may consider the child is at risk of the violence. There has been insufficient recognition that past colonial practices have increased the vulnerability of indigenous women to violence and such child removal practices – and worse, insufficient redress and reparations for such past historical wrongs which continue to adversely impact the lives of indigenous women and families even today. States should work with indigenous women to ensure that traditional justice models support and empower them.

Third, as mentioned above, States must improve responses and ensure justice for indigenous victims – through better legal aid, witness protection, and through ensuring interpretation of procedures and hearings, or translation of legal documents, in indigenous languages.

Fourth, increased development of preventative measures is critical – such as education campaigns against violence directed not only at indigenous communities themselves but also at the wider non-indigenous society, which has also perpetrated violence against indigenous women and indigenous communities.

Fifth, we must address trauma and break the cycle of violence. Indigenous healing based responses can do so effectively and should be recognized as such – countering colonization’s imposition of western models of health that typically dismantled indigenous healing in so many places. Mainstream health systems also have an important role to play. Health practitioners should be trained to improve responses for indigenous women victims in order to perform their duties with a human rights based approach and in a gender and culturally-sensitive manner.

Last but not least, many of you present in this room have key roles to play in addressing violence against indigenous women – NGOs and NHRIs in particular can ensure that violations are denounced and dealt with, through international mechanisms if necessary. I would also like to acknowledge the important contributions in this area of the treaty bodies, particularly CEDAW, and the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, in particular the Special Rapporteurs on the rights of indigenous peoples and on violence against women.

Thank you for your kind attention.