A new report from the RCMP says there is a strong link between missing and murdered indigenous women and family violence.
According to the report, data from 2013 and 2014 showed that in 100% of solved murder cases of aboriginal women, the offenders were "known" to their victim. For non-indigenous victims, that number is 93%.
"Female victims, regardless of ethnicity, are most frequently killed by men within their own homes and communities," the report stated.
The report is an update to the one released last year by the RCMP that identified more than 1,000 cases of missing and murdered indigenous women between 1980 and 2012.
"Missing and murdered Aboriginal women continue to be overrepresented given their percentage of the Canadian population," the new report noted.
Other findings include:
- As of April 15, there were 174 cases of missing indigenous women — 10% of the women reporting missing to the Canadian Police Information Centre — across all police jurisdictions in Canada.
- Eleven more indigenous women have gone missing since the 2014 overview was conducted.
- In 2013 and 2014, 32 indigenous women were killed within RCMP jurisdictions, a number that is proportionately "consistent with levels of the past decade."
- There was a 9.3% reduction in the number of unsolved murders and "suspicious" missing person cases from the 2014 overview (225 cases to 204 cases).