The Saskatchewan numbers on missing and murdered Aboriginal women are even more disturbing than the national picture but police forces say a concerted effort is underway to reduce the numbers and more than 90 per cent of the cases have already been solved.
An informal press briefing detailing the Saskatchewan numbers was held at RCMP headquarters in Regina Wednesday.
Since 1980, there have been 153 cases of murdered Aboriginal women in Saskatchewan. That represents about 55 per cent of all female murder victims in the province even though only about 16 per cent of the population is Aboriginal.
Saskatchewan’s top RCMP officer Brenda Butterworth-Carr, herself an aboriginal woman, admits the numbers are far too high.
She says the RCMP continues to make a serious effort to address the root causes of violence against Aboriginal women.
Butterworth-Carr adds the solution requires partnerships and a coordinated approach that addresses everything from poverty to addiction to public awareness.
She also says the RCMP is on the right track but it is not a problem that can be solved by law enforcement alone.
Regina Police Chief Troy Hagen was on hand to represent the Saskatchewan Association of Police Chiefs at the news conference.
He says the majority of cases are not random acts of violence where Aboriginal women have been targeted but, more often than not, the victim and assailant are known to each other.
In fact, just over 5 per cent of these offenses are committed by strangers.
Hagen adds in most cases the victim is related, married to or knows the offender.
In Saskatchewan, the solve rate for murders of Aboriginal women is about 92 per cent, just below the solve rate for non-Aboriginal female murder victims.
At the end of last year, there were 13 unsolved murders involving Aboriginal women in Saskatchewan and 16 outstanding cases of missing Aboriginal women.
This is the fourth highest rate in Canada behind Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba.
Last week, national figures were released by the RCMP indicating there were nearly 1,200 cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada over the past 32 years.