Madam Chair, there is a clear link between women who are victims of violence, both indigenous and non-indigenous, and precarious financial situations.
We must work on making these indigenous women and girls financially self-sufficient again. There are many ways to give them the financial means they need to escape the cycle of violence. I mentioned it in my speech.
My colleague spoke about the committee. I am certainly frustrated to note that every time we talk about a study, we find that indigenous women are disproportionately affected. Why? It is because they are trapped in a cycle of poverty and insecurity.
We recently studied the situation of women in the resource development industry in western Canada to determine how and why, in those cases, women are victims of sexual violence. Why are they? It is because they, too, are kept in a cycle of poverty. It is because the government does not invest enough in infrastructure.
There are so many ways to improve all that and to financially empower indigenous women and girls so they can finally escape the cycle of violence.
I completely agree with my colleague. We have to think about giving them back their self-sufficiency and empower them to move away from their attackers and oppressors and escape the cycle of violence.