This is $ 6 million more that will go to projects to prevent sexual violence and domestic and family violence in Indigenous communities, the Government of Quebec announced Thursday.
“We received a total of 61 projects” in response to a call for intentions launched on August 25, explained the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Isabelle Charest, at a press conference in Montreal.
She was delighted with this great mobilization, and wished “to allow the financing of as many projects as possible”.
With this new amount, the total envelope more than doubles, reaching $ 11.4 million.
The proposed projects will be made “by and for the Aboriginals”, added the Minister responsible for Native Affairs, Ian Lafrenière, who “wants these projects to be well adapted” to the needs. Among them, “about 50% are in Aboriginal areas, and 50% in urban areas”, where the realities may be very different.
The proposals fall into three categories: “Domestic and family violence”, “Sexual violence” and “Men and healing”. Minister Lafrenière said he was “very happy to see that several projects are also targeting the“ Men and healing ”component, and that shows to what extent men must be part of the solution”.
Crying needs
“Today’s announcement is excellent news for the Quebec Native Women Association to ensure the well-being and safety of Native women and girls, whether they are in urban areas or in Native communities” , declared the president of the organization, Marjolaine Étienne, during the press conference.
“If there was an improvement, it is proof that the needs are present everywhere on the ground,” she said. It is our Indigenous women, daughters and sisters who are disproportionately victims of violence in all its forms. “
Of the 18 feminicides in Quebec in 2021, three victims are indigenous, recalled Minister Charest.
According to Ms. Étienne, “the isolation and confinement of indigenous women in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic have increased the number of cases of domestic violence and sexual violence”.
If the health crisis has had this effect throughout the province, the Aboriginals are among the most affected, “by the socioeconomic conditions and the overcrowding of houses in the communities,” she said. “The geographic isolation of indigenous communities, as well as the glaring lack of accessibility to services, are also factors in cases of domestic, family and sexual violence. “