“NWAC looks forward to seeing the aforementioned sex-based inequities remedied effectively, as well as other misogynist laws that have been discriminating against Indigenous women and girls for centuries. Dr. Lynn Gehl (2013) identified one such legislative issue, namely the unknown or unstated paternity policy. This policy causes Indigenous children to be robbed of inclusion in their home communities due to the Government’s inherent assumption that lack of a father’s signature on a birth certificate translates to the father being a non-status Indian. Even worse, the unknown or unstated paternity policy applies to Indigenous mothers whose children were conceived through the violent acts of sexual assault, incest, rape or prostitution, which only adds further insult to injury by depriving her children of the socio-economic and cultural benefits of status Indian-ship and First Nations citizenship.” Read more here: https://nwac.ca/2016/10/press-release-nwac-commends-the-government-for-introducing-legislation-that-begins-the-process-of-ending-sex-discrimination-in-the-indian-act/