An Inuit teenager at a Montreal-area rehabilitation center who was seeking help for ‘excruciating’ pain would instead have been placed in solitary confinement for several hours before requiring emergency surgery, an advocate said Thursday. Indigenous rights.
The director of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal says she was approached in August by a person who denounced the teenager’s treatment at the Batshaw Youth and Family Center.
Mme Nakuset, who uses only one name and has since heard the story of the youngster in question, says the teenager woke up one night in April in excruciating pain and tried to ask workers at the facility for help. ‘establishment.
The manager claims that after being given an over-the-counter painkiller, the teenager’s pain worsened to the point that he started hitting the wall and asking for an ambulance.
“He started banging on the wall because [les travailleurs] kept walking away and ignoring her, she said in a phone interview. But instead, they put him in solitary confinement.” She said he stayed there for several hours and ended up throwing up in pain.
Later that morning, he was finally taken to hospital, where he had to undergo emergency surgery.
Mme Nakuset compared the decision to isolate the teenager to “torture”. “I can’t imagine how much he must have suffered,” she said.
The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse du Québec (CDPDJ) is investigating the case of the Inuit teenager. “According to the information reported, the minor was placed in solitary confinement for prolonged periods,” the commission wrote in a statement. He allegedly did not receive the required health care in a timely manner, thus aggravating his situation. »
The commission is also investigating allegations that the youngster was banned from speaking his own language at the centre.
A spokesperson for the health authority that oversees the rehabilitation center said he could not comment on the matter due to confidentiality concerns, but stressed that the organization does not condone violence, discrimination or racism.
“When allegations of such behavior are brought to our attention, we take them very seriously and immediately take action to bring them to light,” said Hélène Bergeron-Gamache of the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Ouest. Island of Montreal.
Mme Nakuset and Fo Niemi of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations believe it is time for a full investigation into the treatment of indigenous youth in care.
“When we talk about systemic racism, it’s okay to mistreat Indigenous peoples,” said Ms.me Nakuset. You get away with that. »
Mme Nakuset said his organization severed ties with the Batshaw Youth and Family Center last year because it failed to follow up on numerous referrals sent to it.
Indigenous youth continue to be overrepresented in the child welfare system, often compounding the intergenerational trauma inflicted on them by residential schools and government policy, she argued.
The health authority, meanwhile, said it has taken steps to protect the ‘cultural safety’ of young people under its care, including hiring Indigenous staff and rewriting policies to affirm young people’s rights to speak. indigenous languages.