A/HRC/54/31/Add.2 lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse persons. However, Indigenous Peoples and organizations report that little of this money is being spent and that the Government is not doing enough to address the growing crisis. They are launching their own initiatives to reduce violence against members of those groups, including national databases to track, map and publish cases, alert systems and implementation committees. D. Gender-based discrimination in the Indian Act 40. Currently, the Federal Government has authority under section 6 of the Indian Act to determine who has First Nations status, forcibly shaping the identities of Indigenous Peoples. The Act’s registration provisions do not apply equally to men and women in practice, despite revisions to the Act. Thousands of Indigenous women and their descendants are denied status and access to associated benefits, including health-care services provided by their Band Councils and on-reserve housing. 41. A number of amendments to the Indian Act were made in response to court challenges in 1985, 2010 and 2017 in an attempt to rectify the gender discrimination. The Parliamentary Budget Officer had estimated that the 2017 amendment (Bill S-3) would make hundreds of thousands of women and their descendants newly eligible for status. However, Indigenous Peoples remain concerned over the lack of information provided by the Federal Government concerning new registration procedures and the slow and bureaucratic process required to prove their Indigenous ancestry. In Views adopted in 2019, 29 the Human Rights Committee held that the current provisions of the Indian Act and its amendments violated the right to equal protection under the law and discriminated based on sex 30 and the right to culture.31,32 E. Overincarceration and access to justice 42. Disproportionately high rates of Indigenous Peoples in jails and prisons have been linked to structural racial discrimination at every level, including policing, the judicial system, and corrections. Indigenous women and two-spirited, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse persons are the most affected. Indigenous women represent about 50 per cent of federally incarcerated women in Canada, even though they make up less than 4 per cent of the country’s population. 33 The Special Rapporteur heard that in some provinces the numbers are as high as 80 per cent. The Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that in Canada, Indigenous youth were more likely to be involved in the criminal justice system than to graduate from high school.34 43. Indigenous Peoples are disproportionately held in higher-security settings and have limited access to education, training and culturally appropriate and responsive rehabilitative programming.35 They are also more likely to be classified as a higher security risk, receive longer sentences and are frequently subjected to the use of force, isolation and segregation.36 Complaints have been lodged before the Canadian Human Rights Commission against Correctional Service of Canada staff by Indigenous prisoners for: making racist comments, conducting excessive cell searches, monitoring phone calls and responding violently to prisoners who self-harm. During one of the prison visits, the Special Rapporteur was informed that the institution did not provide specific accommodations for two-spirited, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse prisoners. 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 GE.23-13374 McIvor and Grismer v. Canada (CCPR/C/124/D/2020/2010). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, arts. 3 and 26. Ibid., art. 27. See also A/HRC/41/42/Add.1, para. 18; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 2; CEDAW/C/OP.8/CAN/1, para. 24; and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, arts. 3, 4 and 33. See also Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general recommendation No. 39 (2022), para. 24. CRC/C/CAN/CO/3-4, para. 85 (e). Submission from Prisoners’ Legal Services. A/HRC/41/42/Add.1, paras. 68 and 96 (z). 9