A/HRC/20/16 62. The intersection of different layers of discrimination based on race, ethnic identity, sex, class, education and political views further disenfranchises indigenous and aboriginal women, reproducing a multi-level oppression that culminates in violence. In cases of killings of aboriginal and indigenous women, the main failings by the authorities are the failure of police to protect aboriginal women and girls from violence and to investigate promptly and thoroughly when they are missing or murdered, and the disadvantaged social and economic conditions in which aboriginal women and girls live, which make them vulnerable to such violence.101 63. In Guatemala, the current experience of massive and violent killings of indigenous women has a legacy stemming back to colonial times, further increasing during the 36-year armed conflict. Indigenous Maya women constituted 88 per cent of victims of sexual and systematic attacks, with such attacks being publicly and intentionally perpetrated, mainly by military and paramilitary personnel. 102 After the 1996 Peace Accord, no efforts were made to seek justice for and provide reparations to the victims and their families. In fact, article 200 of the Penal Code (repealed in 2006) afforded immunity to perpetrators of sexual violence and kidnapping of women and girls over 12 years old, where the perpetrator subsequently married the victim. Thus a State-endorsed impunity was established, condoning all forms of violence, particularly against indigenous women. 64. In Australia, violence against aboriginal women is egregious due to the use of weapons and the licensing of firearms. Incidents of weapon-inflicted violence, involving hammers, knives, sticks, stones, guns and pickets, have resulted in a number of homicides of aboriginal women.103 Recent reports indicate that aboriginal women are at far greater risk of being the victims of homicide, rape and other assaults than non-aboriginal women. 104 However, aboriginal women have been reluctant to expose these acts of violence, due to the risk of further denigration of their communities from the dominant white society. As noted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, ―indigenous women and girls face the highest levels of violence, especially at home where indigenous women are 35 times as likely to be hospitalized as a result of family violence-related assaults as non-indigenous females‖.105 65. Until 1985 Canada had many discriminatory laws against aboriginal women and children; this has had an intergenerational impact, and has contributed to a legacy of violence, abuse and impunity. 106 Today, a young aboriginal woman is five times more likely than other Canadian women of the same age to die of violence. 107 According to a 2010 report, of 582 cases of violence against aboriginal women, 20 per cent involved missing women and girls, 67 per cent involved women or girls who died as a result of homicide or negligence, and 4 per cent fell under the category of suspicious death (usually 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 16 Sharon McIvor and Shelagh Day, ―Gender-Motivated Killings of Aboriginal Women and Girls Canada‖, Prepared for UN Expert Group Meeting on Gender-motivated killings of women, 12 October 2011. The Commission for Historical Clarification ―La Violencia Sexual contra la Mujer”, Volume 3, #41. Penelope Andrews, ―Violence against Aboriginal Women in Australia: Possibilities for Redress within the international human rights framework‖, 60 Albany Law Review 917. Ibid. CEDAW Committee, Concluding Observations to Australia, U.N. Doc. CEDAW/C/AUL/CO/7, 2010, para. 40. Complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee: Sandra Lovelace v. Canada, Communication No R.6/24, U.N. Doc. Supp. No. 40 (A/36/40), at 166. Amnesty International, No More Stolen Sisters: The Need for a Comprehensive Response to Discrimination and Violence Against Aboriginal Women, September 2009, at 1, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR20/012/2009/en