Reuters reports that Canada is set to fund a $5 million study on the high rape and murder rates of aboriginal women in the nation.

The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), the organization who will do the study, says that more than 500 aboriginal women have disappeared or been killed in the last 20 years. Executive Director Sherry Lewis says "Young women leave the community and are never heard from again."

To learn more, check out the NWAC's Sisters in Spirit campaign.

For more information on aboriginal women in Canada and their progress over the last decade, you can also look to WEDO's publication Beijing Betrayed. (pages 149-154 in the Europe and North America chapter)