OTTAWA -- An Ojibway activist is calling on the federal government to include domestic abuse in a forthcoming inquiry exploring the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women.
Joan Jack, a retired lawyer who ran to lead the Assembly of First Nations in 2012, says the inquiry should include the entire spectrum of vulnerabilities aboriginal women face both on- and off-reserve.
The federal government is in the process of establishing the terms of reference for the inquiry, which was a Liberal commitment during the federal election campaign.
Jack says she believes some women in indigenous communities are reluctant to come forward to talk about abuse that is a product of colonialism and the legacy of residential schools.
Dawn Lavell-Harvard, president of the Native Women's Association of Canada, says high levels of violence in many communities have been an open secret for decades.
She says the inquiry will need to examine the complete picture in order to be effective.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says domestic violence is still "almost routinely linked" to the effects of residential schools, as well as the effects of child abuse and the child welfare system.
