A/HRC/30/41 from the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. However, in reality, indigenous women are often excluded from both indigenous decision-making structures and local and national political processes in States. As highlighted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, there are very few indigenous women in national and local political processes and in some countries, there are none at all.11 Indigenous power structures and self-governance agreements tend to be patriarchal and exclude the involvement and perspectives of women. 39. Female indigenous human rights defenders have faced particular challenges when exercising their right to participate in public life. Female human rights defenders play a vital role in protecting women in indigenous communities and can be valuable resources to States in the context of balancing their duty to protect all women and the need to respect the right to self-determination and autonomy of indigenous communities. However, in a number of countries, the activities of female human rights defenders from indigenous communities have been criminalized and they have been subjected to severe forms of violence. For example, in Oaxaca, Mexico, female human rights defenders were reported to have been killed recently.12 Indigenous women and criminal justice 40. Data and comprehensive comparative research on indigenous women and the criminal justice system are very underdeveloped. However, reports suggest that indigenous women are overrepresented in the criminal justice systems and the number of indigenous women in custody is increasing in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. What limited data is available suggests that the incarceration of women is increasing at a significantly quicker rate than that of men. Some relevant statistics include the following: (a) Estimates suggest that Maori women in New Zealand represent 40 to 60 per cent of the female prison population, while the Maori people represent around 15 per cent of the general population;13 (b) Maori women were also overrepresented for imprisonment and intensive supervision (accounting for 51 per cent of sentences imposed) and underrepresented for more lenient dispositions, such as reparation orders (39 per cent) and fines and discharges (both 33 per cent);14 (c) In 2010, 30 per cent of incarcerated women in Australia were reported to be indigenous;15 (d) Between 2000 and 2010, in Australia, the imprisonment rate for women increased by 60 per cent, compared to 35 per cent for men;16 (e) From 1996/97 to 2001/02, in Canada, the number of federally sentenced aboriginal women increased by 36.7 per cent, compared with 5.5 per cent for aboriginal men.17 11 12 13 14 15 16 Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Amnesty International, “Eyewitnesses to killing of defenders harassed”, 10 February 2015; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Human rights defenders continue to pay with their lives in Mexico, warn UN experts”, press release, 12 May 2010. Native Women’s Association of Canada, “Aboriginal women and the legal justice system in Canada”, issue paper (June 2007). Ibid. Creative Spirits/Jens Korff, “Aboriginal prison rates” (8 June 2015). Ibid. 11