B.C. Indigenous Women’s Justice Plan calls for major reform [Video]

The BC First Nations Justice Council has released a detailed plan for broad reforms it says will improve the lives of Indigenous women and girls.

BCFNJC said it held engagement across the province as it drafted the plan, hearing directly from Indigenous women about their lived experiences and their interactions with police, social workers, the courts and the criminal justice system.

The council released the final draft of its Indigenous Women’s Justice Plan at a forum in Vancouver on Monday.

Attendees heard that Indigenous women and girls in B.C. are far more likely to be victims of violence, including sexual violence, than non-Indigenous women, and are significantly over-represented in the foster care system and correctional facilities.

“It’s unacceptable that Indigenous women and girls and (Two-Spirit)-plus people are on the negative end of all of these indicators. It’s absolutely unacceptable,” said Kory Wilson, BCFNJC chair.

Among the many recommendations in the plan are calls for expanded cultural and trauma-focused programming for incarcerated Indigenous women.

“We know that the justice system …