A/HRC/41/42/Add.1 obligated to provide full reparation and to take steps to address residual discrimination based on sex arising from the Indian Act (CCPR/C/124/D/2020/2010). 79. For a century, and on the basis of discriminatory policies and practices, indigenous children have been taken away from their families, alienating them from their traditional culture, language and social relations and support network. Notwithstanding the residential schools era and the so-called “Sixties Scoop”,42 the Special Rapporteur was informed that the forced separation of indigenous children from their families continued to be a persistent harmful practice embedded in the Canadian child welfare system. While only 7.7 per cent of all children under 14 years of age are indigenous, they represent the 52.2 per cent of all children in foster care. 2. Inquiry on indigenous women 80. Evidence and emblematic cases show that violence against indigenous women in Canada is rooted in racial discrimination43 and intergenerational trauma, which has not yet been adequately acknowledged or addressed. This discrimination takes the form of both overt cultural prejudice and implicit or systemic biases in the policies and action of government officials and agencies or of society as a whole, which results in a failure to provide indigenous women the protection from violence that is every woman’s human right.44 It is therefore crucial to provide a human rights-based approach to discrimination and violence against indigenous women and to promptly investigate all the cases of missing and murdered women in the country. 81. In its 2015 report (CEDAW/C/OP.8/CAN/1), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommended that the Government of Canada establish a national public inquiry into cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. The Special Rapporteur welcomed the dialogue and ongoing healing process initiated with the launch of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls but called for urgent action on other recommendations contained in the Committee inquiry report. 82. During her visit, the Special Rapporteur received updated information on the work of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which has continued, for almost two years, to collect many testimonies nationwide and plans to hold expert hearings on a human rights framework and racism. The subjects of these hearings, which will be conducted on the basis of a “families-first” approach, 45 are government services and policing. 83. The Special Rapporteur considers the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls to be an important mourning and healing process that has opened a vital dialogue on past and current racist and colonial policies. Several concerns have been raised, however, about the limited mandate of the National Inquiry, including on child welfare. In March 2018, the federal Government, the 10 provincial governments and the 3 territorial ones were asked to grant a 24-month extension of the mandate of the National Inquiry, from December 2018 to December 2020. The governments agreed to a shorter extension, of six months, ending in June 2019. 42 43 44 45 The “Sixties Scoop” refers to the decades-long former practice of indiscriminately removing indigenous children from their homes and putting them in foster care or up for adoption. Pamela Palmater, “Shining light on the dark places: addressing police racism and sexualized violence against indigenous women and girls in the national inquiry”, Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, vol. 28, No. 2 (August 2016), pp. 253–284. See Amnesty International, “Stolen sisters: a human rights response to discrimination and violence against indigenous women in Canada” (2004), and “Violence against indigenous women and girls in Canada: a summary of Amnesty International’s concerns and call to action” (2014). See, for example, National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Our Women and Girls are Sacred: Interim Report (2017), and National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Reclaiming Power and Place: Executive Summary of the Final Report (2019). 15