Sex assault rate 10 times higher in Treaty 3 First Nations than national average
https://breaking-news.ca/sex-assault-rate-10-times-higher-in-treaty-3-first-nations-than-national-average/
Evidence points to an epidemic of sexual abuse across the territory
The following story contains disturbing details. If you’re in need of support, the following helplines are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: Hope for Wellness 1-855-242-3310. Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868.
An APTN investigation has identified dozens of sexual abuse victims across First Nations in Treaty 3 territory in what survivors describe as a silent epidemic that has gone unaddressed for generations.
In fact, APTN couldn’t find a single report specifically aimed at addressing sexual abuse on-reserve at the Grand Council of Treaty 3 in northwestern Ontario.
We asked Grand Chief Francis Kavanaugh for comment, but he never responded to our multiple calls and emails.
While Kavanaugh wouldn’t talk, Chief Jeffery Copenace did.
“If the chiefs aren’t going to try to fight for our women and the abused, then who is?” said Copenace, of the Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation.
Copenace said he’s a victim of sexual abuse, just like many from his community.
“I’m not going to stop talking about it,” he said.
The only mention of sexual abuse on-reserve in the territory is data found in the annual reports of the Treaty Three Police Service that APTN examined for this story.
Over the last five years, there’s been 485 sexual assaults reported in 23 communities, which are largely investigated by frontline officers, that had a combined on-reserve population of 8,685 as of Dec. 2022, according to the federal government.
Last year, there were 93 reports of sexual assault.
That’s more than 1,000 assaults per 100,000 people.
The national average is 90 per 100,000.
A crime rate is determined by dividing the number of crimes by the total population and multiplying that by 100,000; a standard used by Statistics Canada.
As high as that number is, it’s not telling the full picture, APTN found.
Survivors of abuse said most victims in Treaty 3 don’t report their assaults, which isn’t uncommon, as only six per cent of victims report sex abuse in Canada, according to Statistics Canada.
All signs point to an epidemic of sexual abuse in Treaty 3 and APTN has traced some sexual abuse through generations of the same families.
More @ Source: https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/treaty-3-sex-assault-epidemic-investigation/