The lingering effects of the residential school system, a generation later the risk for abuse is still heightened.
Posted Apr 10, 2015 9:56 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s a dark part of Canadian history, and its’ trauma lingers on.
A report from the Cedar Project (a partnership between Indigenous leaders and health researchers), found women who had a parent who attended a residential school were 2.35 times more likely to be sexually assaulted.
The report also shows women were also nearly 10 times more likely to be sexually assaulted later in life if they had a history of childhood sexual abuse.
Child advocate Sheldon Kennedy said he’s glad the study can better paint the picture of what is happening to abuse victims.
“How individuals may end up on the streets, or maybe why our kids are dropping school all the time, or ending up on the streets or in prison,” he said. “The reality is that we have enough research, we have enough studies now that really show the impact of that trauma on our young people”.
While the Sheldon Kennedy Advocacy Centre is working in the region, it can’t be everywhere. Kennedy said there are some common feelings from victims of abuse.
“It’s their fault and they’ve done something to deserve it, or there is the fear that the person that’s doing it to them is going to be in trouble, because most of the time it’s a family member or somebody close to them. My message is that we believe you, we take this seriously and it’s not your fault,” he said.
One of the investigators of the study, Kukpi7 (Chief) Wayne Christian of the Shushwap nation told 660News the residential school system is gone, but it’s effects are long lasting.
“We have to understand the residential schools laid a foundation for the parenting and social issues that continue to persist in our communities,” he said. “The only way that it is going to be resolved is having those resources, the resources of healing for our families in the communities”.
The Chief said programs like the Sheldon Kennedy Advocacy Centre in Calgary should be established around the country and local, provincial and federal governments should push for that kind of solution.
