Good morning, Chair and members of the committee.

My name is Hilda Anderson, and I am the chair of the National Family and Survivors Circle, which is made up of families who are impacted by missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and survivors of gender and race-based violence. Thank you for this opportunity to address the ongoing crisis of gender-based violence and femicides in Canada, especially as it impacts indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people.

This is a human rights crisis, a Canadian genocide, as the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls identified, rooted in systemic racism, intergenerational trauma and severe social and economic marginalization. Let me be clear, indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people are not statistics. They are individual human beings with inherent rights: the right to safety, the right to dignity and the right to self-determination. Addressing this crisis is not a partisan issue. It is a human rights obligation that demands unwavering cross-party commitment. The solutions must outlast political cycles and be backed by sustained concrete action and the political will to see this through.

The National Family and Survivors Circle is guided by four pillars—inclusion, interconnectedness, accountability and impact—that must shape Canada's response. Today, I present three key actions that are essential to ending this violence.

First, we need rigorous accountability mechanisms backed by political will. Policies without accountability risk becoming hollow gestures. Canada must establish a national accountability framework with legislatively mandated impact assessments, timelines and progress indicators to measure and track effectiveness; and annual public reporting that provides clear measurable data on progress, funding allocations and outcomes specifically for indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people with feedback from the indigenous community on what is truly working.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has issued recommendations to Canada on addressing gender-based violence. These are urgent and necessary guidelines. The 231 calls for justice, however, are legal imperatives that are not optional. Canada has a binding responsibility to uphold these calls and ensure they lead to meaningful change. Embedding accountability in legislation is the only way to ensure these obligations are upheld permanently and not subject to shifting priorities.

Second, equitable funding must prioritize indigenous-led initiatives. To make a real difference, sustained and equitable funding must be directed to indigenous-led organizations where indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people hold decision-making roles. I urge this committee to support legislated commitments for sustained, equitable funding focused on indigenous-led initiatives, ensuring that solutions are created and guided by those with lived experience, and predictable multi-year funding models to allow indigenous organizations to plan, grow and provide stable culturally relevant services for their communities. Equitable funding acknowledges the right of indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people to lead in addressing the challenges they uniquely face.

Third, indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people must be leaders in policy decisions on gender-based violence. The four pillars of inclusion, interconnectedness, accountability and impact mean that indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people must be at the helm of designing, implementing and overseeing policies that affect them. This includes mandating their leadership in policy-making bodies as essential partners whose expertise and experiences are invaluable, centring their voices in policy planning and strategy, and ensuring that solutions are rooted in their cultures, values and realities.

Finally, we must legislate trauma-informed, culturally safe services that are guided by indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people. This requires legislated standards for trauma-informed and culturally safe support to guarantee respectful, effective services that respond to the unique needs of survivors. It also involves education and awareness programs led by indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people to increase public understanding of the colonial and systemic roots of gender-based violence.

In conclusion, this committee's study on gender-based violence and femicide is a vital opportunity for Canadians to take definitive, lasting action.

The National Family and Survivors Circle is calling for nothing less than an end to femicide and a commitment to a future where indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people live in safety, security and dignity. This is not a goal. It is our responsibility to uphold their right to live free from violence and discrimination.

I urge each of you to champion these actions and recommendations to ensure that this work is sustained beyond political cycles and remains a legacy of justice that transcends partisanship.

Thank you.

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