STUDY ON NATIVE DRUG USERS BRINGS ELDER TO TEARS

'No, No More. This Has To Stop,' Panel Member Says About Cycle Of
Sexual And Substance Abuse Among Young Aboriginals

VANCOUVER -- A new public health study that looked at more than 500
young aboriginal drug users in two British Columbia cities produced
such shocking data that people wept openly when it was first presented
to a panel of elders. "That was really painful for us," Patricia
Spittal said of the Cedar Project research team, which reported to a
native panel before releasing the results today.

The study found that nearly half of the aboriginal young people who
were using injection and non-injection drugs in Vancouver and Prince
George had previously been victims of sexual abuse.

The median age of first sexual abuse was six years.

Dr. Spittal, assistant professor with the University of British
Columbia school of population and public health, said a link between
sexual abuse and drug abuse was not unexpected, but the high
percentage was staggering.

She said directors of the Cedar Project, which involves several
aboriginal groups, wanted the data made public to focus attention on
the problem of sexual abuse in native communities.

"I think we need to emphasize that since the beginning of Cedar we
were given clear direction that we needed to look at this issue and
publish this paper. The partnership was not going to support denial in
any way of this data," she said.

Dr. Spittal recalled one elder looking at the data and, with tears
streaming down her face, saying: "No, no more. This has to stop."

Dr. Spittal said the problem of sexual abuse in native communities has
its roots in the residential school system, which created a generation
of victims who in turn found victims of their own. She said it has
created a cycle of abuse that is destroying young lives through
violence, suicides and substance abuse.

"I think we have to understand why kids and young people use drugs.
They don't use drugs because it's fun, many kids use drugs because
they are in pain. This is one way that we're seeing the impact of
multigeneration trauma in native communities," she said.

The study looked at 543 aboriginals between the ages of 14 and 30 who
were either smoking or injecting illicit drugs, including crystal
methamphetamine, crack cocaine, heroin or cocaine.

The study defined sexual abuse as any type of sexual activity that
participants were forced into, including molestation, rape or assault.

Researchers also looked at "historical trauma," by asking participants
whether their parents had ever attended residential school. Fifty per
cent of those who were sexually abused reported at least one parent
had been in residential school.

Nearly half of the participants in the study (48 per cent) reported
being sexually abused at least once, and 85 per cent said they were
abused before age 13.

Nearly half of the participants (45 per cent) said they had attempted
suicide.

In Canada, the suicide rate among young aboriginals is four times
higher than among non-aboriginals, and while poverty has often been
blamed for that imbalance, the study suggests that sexual abuse,
echoing down through the generations from residential schools, is a
significant factor.

"Meaningful and effective suicide prevention programming must address
the roles of intergenerational trauma, unresolved grief and sexual
trauma among young aboriginal people," the study states.

Wayne Christian, chief of the Splats'in First Nation in B.C.'s north
Okanagan, said the findings are shocking.

"We're at a stage ... as indigenous nations ... where we as leaders,
as chiefs ... have to step to the plate and do something. This issue
has sat far too long," he said.

"If we don't do something for our kids I'm really worried about where
this is heading."

Mr. Christian said people are reluctant to discuss sexual abuse in
native communities because it is shameful. But the data make it clear
the problem is so widespread that urgent action is needed, and the
first step is to talk about it openly.

"If you don't talk it out, you act it out and that's what's been going
on in our communities with the high level of drug use, the high level
of violence, the homelessness with our youth ...," he said.

"I think with what's happening with our children now, we're not going
to be able to continue on, in terms of our own cultural identity, if
we don't interrupt this cycle of sexual abuse."

Mr. Christian said programs that combine Western medicine with
traditional practices will have the best chance of succeeding.

"Let's bring people together and talk about what we can do
collectively," he said.