Invisible Victims: Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women

Crimes Canada #15

by Katherine McCarthy

Indigenous women and girls are more likely to suffer extreme violence than other women. They are more likely to disappear and never be seen again. And sadly, they are more likely to be murdered by a serial killer. For decades, it has been Canada's dirty little secret. Then in 2014, the horrific murders of Loretta Saunders and Tina Fontaine made headlines across Canada, ignited widespread outrage and exposed Canada's national shame.

So why is the level of violence towards Indigenous women reaching crisis levels? Centuries of discrimination, long term effects of the dreadful residential school era, and many other appalling government-approved practices have resulted in widespread racism towards Indigenous people. Attempts at genocide didn't cease centuries ago like many believe. They just became more subtle.

Invisible Victims is a shocking work that shines a spotlight on this national crisis and its root causes. It includes several specific cases and a review of the serial killers who have specifically targeted Indigenous women and girls as a result of the apathy of Canada's law enforcement, media and government.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Indigenous, Feminism

198 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2016

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I think I was vaguely aware of the higher murder rate of indigenous women in Canada (mostly from the Robert Pickton case), the true extent is incredibly saddening. What is worse, is the national policies and reporting strategies that hide the problem as well as the lack of the media's attention. So many policies mirror the US's policies re. the treatment of Native Americans.

The book deals with the systemic failures as well as reporting on specific victims and serial killers who target Indigenous women and explores many of the reasons why.

It also introduced me to the concept of epigenetics (genetically inherited memories of extreme trauma that can affect cultures such as holocaust survivors and indigenous peoples). It is something I found fascinating and something I will explore more in the future.

The tone of the book is frustrated and angry and after reading, you can certainly see why. Definitely recommend

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

First the bad - there are several typos, the footnotes are, big and large, simply a website link. While this makes sense for an ebook, I still want correct citation format, sorry. Lastly, you could say that a few of the sections about serial killers are de facto ads for other books in the series. They are and they are not in my view. McCarthy does a good job of showing how those cases are related to the scope of the story, so considering the series, I'm neutral on these inclusions. Finally, and this was most annoying, it was unclear at points whether a work mentioned was an essay or a book. I spent several minutes searching for a book title when it was really an essay I should have been looking for. That was rather annoying.

HOWEVER

Those faults aside, this a pretty good overview and not at all senesation as the cover might lead some to think. McCarthy cites when she needs to and deals with the overarching issues quite well. The book is an overview, so the sections dealing with the history that lead to the society problems that allow for the murder of Indigenous women are perhaps too short, but McCarthy points you in the direction to learn more (and some of those facts, wow). McCarthy deals sympathically with the victims and points out how race and the question of "good" or "bad" girls plays into the how the media views the victim. Unlike some other work on the death of Indigenous women, McCarthy moves beyond the Highway of Tears and Residental schools and brings in classes that were not first thought of, making the book an overview.

If the editing errors had been fixed, this would have been four stars.

[Vicky Carruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad but informative!

In Volume 15 of the Crimes Canada series, Author Katherine McCarthy gives us a look at a subject that's not talked about often enough! As she put it,"Canada's dirty little secret"! She is talking about Indigenous women and girls of Canada. The book is well written and defiantly well researched!! These women and girls suffer not only in poverty, but violence that nobody ( at least not enough) seem to care about. The end result for too many is that they disappear and end up murdered.

[Lee Husemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well-researched, well-written and thought-provoking book by Katherine McCarthy about the missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada. The book also mentions 5 serial killers who focused on Indigenous women knowing that there would not be extensive investigations into their cases. This is a story that needed to be told and Author McCarthy does an excellent job telling it. I highly recommend this book.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well researched book on the indigenous people and the cruelty they were subjected to. Everyone should read this. The only problem I had with the book was advertisement of other books in the series.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important message but poorly written.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small introduction to a big subject...

Well and passionately written, this book will lead readers to a variety of terrible areas of Canadian crime. McCarthy thumbnails some hideous serial- murder cases and the genocidal actions of the Canadian government, hinting at The scope of the problem of violence against First Nations women. The threads of this book led into a number of areas that the author left unexplored, or at any rate unexplained. She seemed openly offended at the suggestion that most of the violence against these women comes from inside their families, and she points out that they are victimized by serial killers at a much higher than normal rate -- but serial killing is extremely rare even in the USA where a new recreational killer seems to surface every week. Who then is she saying is killing all these women? And how many victims, known dead or still missing, are there out there? What about raped and motherboard if violence that are the precursors to murder? She mentions scanty, incomplete record keeping, but what figures is she working from then? So many unanswered questions...but the picture she paints for us, as incomplete as it may be, is daunting enough.

[Bettye McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent portrayal of the plight of Indigenous people in Canada

Invisible Victims deals with issues of major importance. This is information that very few people have heard about. And that is that disproportionate numbers of Indigenous women are missing and/or murdered and no effort is being made to effect a change in this trend.

Ms. McCarty has thoroughly researched this matter and shared the results. The government has allowed the murders of Indigenous women to not be properly investigated and missing Indigenous women to go unreported or not searched for.

These women are the invisible victims because no one seems to care where they are or what has happened to them. Their stories are apparently not newsworthy, so the general public is unaware of this problem.

This is an excellent attempt by Ms. McCarty to make the public aware of the poor treatment Indigenous people have received and are still trying to overcome.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Splendid And Compelling Book About MMIW

As someone who lost her sister to homicide on the Diné Nation, I ate this book up. Stay strong, Native people. Justice awaits these killers, whether they are Native or not.

Typos and errors aside, the author brought forth an important and pressing issue Indigenous communities everywhere face: why is there delayed justice? I myself have waited years for an answer for my own sister. What’s taking so long?

Unsolved homicides committed by Natives are not really covered in this book unless you count Aquash’s murder by AIM, the male-dominated activist group, and the alleged suspects. Means, Banks, Trudell, and Peltier knew or know volumes, but never talked. Why not? Now Native women want to know why and how some of them knew about the killing before Aquash was actually found dead.

[Donald L McGill · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT READ ON A HORRIBLE PROBLEM

Author has done his research, put together numerous murders in
Canada PROVIDED the reader with all the information, to make this
a very interesting read...Read the book then make your own decisions
about these crimes in Canada.

[Ryan Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was mostly interesting. The book is a pretty short but still, somehow seems stretched. There are some poorly written chapters. There are also several advertisements for other books in this series.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-researched and well written book about true crimes. It was eye opening for me because I was not familiar with the history of Canada and the way in which indigenous people have been treated in that country over the years. Katherine McCarthy's account of the missing and murdered women's cases and the way the authorities often turned a blind eye to what was going on, is quite shocking and definitely makes you think. In this book, the author has highlighted specific cases and documented the crimes of serial killers who preyed on vulnerable indigenous women and girls. She has referred to statistical information to back up her findings. It's not an easy read because much of the subject matter is disturbing, but it's a book that should be read by all because it sheds light on a matter that appears to have been covered up for a long time.

[Cendrine Marrouat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very happy to see a book focusing on a topic that is dear to my heart. Having studied and written on it in the past, I had huge expectations.

The book had great potential but fell short, especially when it comes to the writing. There were many formatting problems, as well as typos and grammatical errors. The chapters on the serial killers seem to have been written in haste.

The section on root causes was interesting but way too short. Considering how ignorant most Canadians are about what their government did to Aboriginal Peoples, it would have been nice to see more in-depth information. You cannot just tell the reader that something bad was done. You have to actually give more details.

Overall, it's a decent book. But I am quite disappointed.

[Jesica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the information is interesting the book kind of read like a dissertation complete with preface and conclusion and a little less cohesive than I would like. Katherine does make good observations as to the reason why Indigenous Women are often the victims of brutal crimes and disappearances and is a good sagway into this topic.

[ann barclay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative

A good read and is also very informative. I didn't know about most of the cases . I'd certainly read this author again

[Marian Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

#MMIWG How can this be happening in Canada?

This book is essential reading for those who care or want to begin to care.



It is a shame that there is so little concern.

[Lynn Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very informative on the #MMIW problem in Canada it did deals a couple of cases.

[Emma ( Mrsbreads ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, heartbreaking and an important read.

[Kenneth Evoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very important topic told in an indigenous voice. Every Canadian should read this.