OTTAWA – The number of missing or murdered indigenous women in Canada has not escaped the attention of the international human rights community.
They plan to keep an eye on next month’s national inquiry, something they say is long overdue.
Dinah Shelton, who worked on a report about the issue when she was with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, says the rest of the world can learn a lesson from how long it took Canada to call an inquiry.
READ MORE: Who are the 5 commissioners conducting inquiry into missing, murdered indigenous women?
She says it also shows that violence against women is pervasive – and not just something that happens in poor countries with terrible human rights records.
Craig Benjamin, with Amnesty International Canada, says it remains to be seen whether the national inquiry is equipped to address the concerns raised by international bodies, including the United Nations.
Benjamin says a lot will depend on how much co-operation it gets from the provinces.