Inuit women in Canada’s north encountering ‘racialized policing,’ report says
OTTAWA — A new report on how police respond to violence against women in Canada’s four northern Inuit regions says researchers have uncovered “systemic racialized policing” there.
Interviews with Inuit women and service providers in these regions, known collectively as the Inuit Nunangat, reveal many women encounter so much gender-based violence, they have come to expect it.
The report’s authors cite Inuit women who say they are often not believed when they report abuse and are sometimes removed from their homes themselves after reporting a violent incident.
The report also says police dispatching systems in the North are often inadequate and that officers’ limited time in particular communities and lack of knowledge of the Inuit language has created a perception among locals that police are outsiders.