MAY 2008 This paper was presented at the 7th Global Conference on Violence and Contexts of Hostility, Budapest, Hungary, by Yasmin Jiwani. To date, Canada is one of four nations that have refused to ratify the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous peoples. Yet, an Amnesty International Report reveals that over 500 Aboriginal women in Canada have gone missing over the last two decades. More recently, Robert W. Pickton, a serial killer, has been alleged to have murdered at twenty-six of the women missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, many of whom were Aboriginal. This presentation draws on examples culled from seven years (2000 to 2007) of press coverage in Canada's daily newspaper of record, The Globe and Mail, to illustrate how symbolic and discursive violence was used to mediate representations of the missing and murdered Aboriginal women. I pay particular attention to historical constructions of Aboriginal women as prostitutes and discuss the legacies of colonialism that have systematically violated their rights and entitlement to land. Drawing from this historical backdrop, I examine how the national press coverage repositions Aboriginal women as criminals, victims of sexual crimes, militant rebels and as inassimilable others. I underscore themes of culpability that were invoked in these accounts to make sense of these women's lives and realities, thereby pre-empting notions of societal responsibility or intervention. I conclude with an examination of how these representations have enabled the Canadian state to maintain its position of limited involvement in alleviating the conditions of Aboriginal women 'over here' all the while attempting to rescue women 'over there' in Afghanistan or elsewhere.

OCTOBER 2013 All Canadian women deserve to live free of violence. For women with vulnerable life histories, violence is a daily threat and a common occurrence. More must be done to prevent violence and to hold offenders responsible when violence has been done. This dissertation is a plea for resources and attention; to turn apathy into pragmatic, concrete action founded on solid evidence-based research. Thesis submitted by Maryanne Pearce to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctorate in Laws degree, Common Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa.

NOVEMBER 2007 'The missing white girl syndrome': disappeared women and media activism. Gender & Development: Vol. 15, Media, pp. 491-502.

AUGUST 2008 The anger, grief, courage, compassion, and hope we hear in these voices inspire and compel us--to remember those who are missing and to work for healing and justice. Responding to the profound tragedy, more than 300 women and men gathered in August 2008 at a conference entitled "Missing Women: Decolonization, Third Wave Feminisms, and Indigenous People of Canada and Mexico". Here, personal stories and theoretical tools were brought together, as academics, activists, family members of missing and murdered women, police media, policy-makers, justice workers, and members of faith communities offered their perspectives on the issue of racialized, sexualized violence. Torn from Our Midst includes images and voices from the conference, together with additional reflections, both academic and personal, on the effects of violence and the possibilities for healing. The purpose of this volume is to raise awareness about missing and murdered women and to challenge communities to be courageous enough to look at the heart of this issue, to recognize the systems that allow such atrocities, and to seek justice and healing for all.

DECEMBER 2010 Exploring differences in Canadian local press coverage of missing/murdered Aboriginal and White women. More than 500 Aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered in Canada since the 1980s yet press attention to this violence is relatively minimal. This paper compares local press coverage of matched cases: three missing/murdered Aboriginal women from Saskatchewan and three missing/murdered White women from Ontario. Quantitative and qualitative content analyses indicate stark disparities in the amount and content of coverage between groups. The Aboriginal women received three and a half times less coverage; their articles were shorter and less likely to appear on the front page. Depictions of the Aboriginal women were also more detached in tone and scant in detail in contrast to the more intimate portraits of the White women. Drawing on feminist media studies and theories of intersectionality, this paper argues that the simultaneous devaluation of Aboriginal womanhood and idealization of middle-class White womanhood contributes to broader systemic inequalities which re/produce racism, sexism, classism, and colonialism. This paper raises concerns about the broader implications of the relative invisibility of missing/murdered Aboriginal women in the press, and their symbolic annihilation from the Canadian social landscape.

MAY 2008 In my article, I suggest that indigenous women are among the hardest hit by economic globalization - the expansion of markets, trade liberalization and cheapening of labour - and that globalization represents a multifaceted violence against indigenous women. I consider this with the help of two examples. First, I discuss the largely ignored case of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada and how the interlocking systems of oppression (colonization, patriarchy and capitalism) are further intensified by globalization. Second, I examine the death of a Hopi woman, Private Piestewa, in the context of militarization, history of colonization and globalization. I analyse these examples in an intersectional framework that reveals the links between colonization, patriarchy and capitalism all of which inform the current processes of globalization.

SEPTEMBER 2003 Published in The American Indian Quarterly 27.3 (2003) 593-606 by Dara Culhane. Anyone passing through inner-city Vancouver on foot, on a bus, or in a car cannot help but SEE, in a literal sense, the concentration of Aboriginal people here. For most urban Canadians, and visitors from elsewhere, this is an unusual and often surprising visual experience on which they feel compelled to remark. Even so, many representations of this and other inner-city neighborhoods in Western Canada are characterized by a marked invisibility of Aboriginal people, and women in particular. This essay describes both the construction of this invisibility in public culture, and an event that symbolizes Aboriginal women's active resistance to these acts of erasure.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says she doesn't have enough data to judge whether the number of missing and murdered indigenous woman far exceeds the estimate of 1,200 given by the RCMP, but that there is "anecdotal evidence" that it could be much higher.

MAY 2016 Canadians will find out who will oversee a national public inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and how it will be structured before Parliament breaks for summer, a Liberal cabinet minister says. The government organized 18 pre-inquiry meetings in communities across the country with family members of missing and murdered women and other stakeholders.

MARCH 2014 A vigil was held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 5, 2014, for Loretta Saunders and to call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

DECEMBER 2012 Toronto -- The following information was released by Human Rights Watch: Canada's federal government should establish a national commission of inquiry into the country's hundreds of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. This recommendation follows today's release by the British Columbian government of the final report from the provincial Missing Women's Commission of Inquiry.

JANUARY 2016 Justice Ministers from across the country have been meeting and one of the big topics on the agenda is the upcoming Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry. B.C. Justice Minister Suzanne Anton says her province had a lot to offer.

FEBRUARY 2016 Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton and Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation John Rustad marked the conclusion of the 2016 National Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls with the following statement: "Ensuring the safety of Indigenous women and girls is one of the defining issues of our time.

MAY 2016 Rhythm of hundreds of hand drums pulses through Thunder Bay to shore of Lake Superior Mother's Day was a dream come true for a Thunder Bay woman who organized a unique event after she dreamed of bringing hundreds of hand drummers together to bring healing to missing and murdered Indigenous women, youth ...

FEBRUARY 2016 RCMP said 1,017 indigenous women were killed between 1980 and 2012, activists say it's closer to 4,000 Canada's minister for the status of women suggests the number of missing and murdered indigenous women could be as high as 4,000, but a dearth of hard data means it's all but impossible to pinpoint ...

MARCH 2016 Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett speaks to reporters following a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday. Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS Tragedy of missing, murdered indigenous women bigger than numbers, Carolyn Bennett says Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says stories of families of missing and murdered indigenous women go beyond statistics.

SEPTEMBER 2014 Jennifer Moreau / New West Record September 22, 2014 11:09 AM You could call it a surprise attack of parliamentary proportions. The federal NDP wrested control of the House of Commons on Friday, outnumbering the majority-holding Conservatives and forcing a debate on Canada's 1,200 missing and murdered indigenous women.

JULY 2016 The upcoming national inquiry into Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women will focus on violence prevention, according to a draft document obtained by CBC News. A draft of the terms of reference says commissioners will be given the broad mandate to identify systemic causes of violence and recommend "concrete action" to help end violence against Indigenous women and girls.

JULY 2016 OTTAWA - Policing will require close examination during the inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett said Thursday after questions were raised about a draft copy of the terms of reference.