After two years and 16 hearings, the Senate Inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations women handed down its report yesterday. While important, it was not the moment of reckoning many of us had hoped for.
The Senate inquiry was introduced and spearheaded by Dorinda Cox, the West Australian Greens Senator, who today called the report’s recommendations “weak” and “toothless”.
What the inquiry found is precisely what First Nations women have been saying for decades: that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children are disproportionately impacted by men’s use of violence.
That their stories and lives are ignored by mainstream media.
That police often fail to adequately investigate, search for, or respond to calls for help from First Nations women and children.
And that the data is shockingly incomplete and inadequate. No one is accurately keeping count.
First Nations women represented 16% of all Australian women homicide victims, despite comprising between 2–3% of the adult female population.
First Nations children represented 13% of all child homicide victims.
Not only are First Nations women and children more likely to go missing, they are less likely to be found.
First Nations women are also disproportionately misidentified as the perpetrator, instead of the victim, criminalising First Nations women and creating yet another barrier to getting help.