Native Indian Victims in Canada: Issues in Policy and Program Delivery

Abstract

The plight of Native Indians in Canadian society has received increasing attention in recent years and the ongoing difficulties encountered by Native persons, bands, and communities have been extensively documented by social scientists. To date, however, little attention has been given to Native Indian victims of crime. The following discussion is designed as an exploratory consideration of the issues surrounding Native victimization in Canada and identifies several key issues that governmental agencies and ministries as well as Native Indian bands, organizations and communities will be required to address in any attempt to develop policies and programs to assist Native Indian victims. A major assertion of the discussion is that, to date, legislators, policy makers and program administrators have given little attention to the special needs of Native victims or to the factors that precipitate and perpetuate the high rates of Native victimization which exist in Canada.