By Kyla Lee 

Indigenous women in Canada continue to experience the disproportionate effects of mandatory minimum sentences. More likely to be found guilty of or plead guilty to an offence that attracts a mandatory minimum, defences predicated on intimate partner violence are more often rejected. 

Senators Kim Pate and Murray Sinclair recently authored a report outlining the miscarriages of justice in the cases of several Indigenous women who were issued mandatory minimum sentences, including for murder.

The report is available here.