Indigenous Gender Based Violence

Question 1

How many Indigneous Women have gone missing since 1980?

Answer 1

more than 4000

Question 1

What case brought the MMIWG epidemic to the attention United Nations and other international groups?

Answer 1

Tina Fontaine

Question 2

why were Indigenous family structures obliterated and what was one of the results of that?

Answer 2

residential schools and results of it being higher rates of violence against women

Question 3

Why are indigenous women fleeing their communities, and what are the results of that?

Answer 3

women do not feel safe in their communities when there is so much violence, and it leads to them hitchhiking and risking their lives. also leads to fleeing to urban areas like downtown Vancouver

Question 4

What do Indigenous women turn to for work when they flee their communities?

Answer 4

many indigenous women find themselves living on the streets after leaving their communities and turning to prostitution for money, especially to fuel their drug addictions.

Question 5

Why do Indigenous women become ‘easy targets’ for people?

Answer 5

because there is nothing being done about the violence against them and the police don’t care about responding to them.

Question 6

Who is Daniel Gallant?

Answer 6

a former white supremacist who used to prey on Indigenous people and do acts of violence against them. he felt they were useless people leeching off of white Canadians and that they were full of soical sickness and needed to be gone.

Question 7

how many convictions did Daniel Gallant have?

Answer 7

6-7 but he never served jail time

Question 8

What are some reasons for Indigenous victimization? How is it perpetuated?

Answer 8

Colonialism, genocide, racism, dehumanization and subsequent marginalization contribute to the targeting.
- This violence is perpetuated through learned indifference/refusal to see the violence as a human rights issue.

Question 9

Where do the racist, violent indifferences to Indigenous violence stem from?

Answer 9

Governmental structural system and ideology that prioritize the eradication of Indigenous people. (Genocide) State sponsored and legitimated.

Ideologies then lead to internalized/externalized forms of racism, exclusion, oppression, neglect, etc.

Question 10

What are some effects of Intergenerational trauma?

Answer 10

• Legitimacy of violence.
• Victimization
• Addiction/substance use/abuse. Self medication, co-occurring traumas.
• Trauma forces women to leave/flee their communities.
• Main goal becomes survival.
  -Duality of victim and offender.

Question 11

What was the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Women and Girls?

Answer 11

Launched in 2016 after numerous calls to action. Took 3 years to issue final report. 231 calls to justice.

-Categorized into 18 subcategories.

Question 12

How many calls to justice have been completed from the National Inquiry into MMIWG2S?

Answer 12

2 out of 218 completed up until this date. More than half of recommendations haven’t even been started.

Question 13

What does the dehumanization of Indigenous women/girls refer to?

Answer 13

It is an integral tactic used to assert settler domination.
- Women are stereotyped and sexualized, and treated as a number or statistic.
-Media representations contribute to apathy, women reduced to bylines.

Question 14

What did the Jeremy Skibicki case reveal about Canadians attitudes to MMIWG2S+

Answer 14

Skibicki murdered 4 known women, and put their bodies in the landfill.
- His case got major attention, as the victims families called to search the landfill in order to bring some kind of peace and justice to them.
- The case was then used as a debate on whether or not Indigenous women are dignified as humans and deserve a dignified death.
-Conservatives took a strong stance in NOT searching the landfill in their stupid ass campaign.

Question 15

Who was Robert Pickton?

Answer 15

• Canadian serial killer, murdered 26 women at least.
  -Targeted sex workers who were living/working on the Van East side.
  -Was a pig farmer, and murdered women on big farm.
  -He was charged with 26 counts of convicted murder, confessed to 49 homicides. 6 counts proceeded to trial, other 20 stayed.
  -Found guilty only of second degree murder in 2007.

Question 16

What were some problems with the handling of the Pickton case?

Answer 16

• 50 of the victims children filed lawsuits against CJS for their failure to properly investigate/respond to Pickton’s murders.
• Van police department settled outside of court, without taking responsibility, and each child was given 50 000$.
  -RCMP and Van police department finally issued an apology in 2010 for their mass ignorance and lack of care for the case.
  -Pickton published a book but it was pulled from distribution.

Question 17

What are some actions needed to implement structural shifts necessary to protect Indigenous women/girls?

Answer 17

Assertion of Indigenous laws and jurisdiction.
Restoration of collective Indigenous women’s rights and governance.
Much more care, empathy and trauma informed training and practices for law enforcement/CJS.
Proper action if Indigenous women have faced abuse at hands of law enforcement.

Question 18

Sex Work Prior to Bedford Case (2015)

Answer 18

Act of sex workers who itself was not illegal but its ancillary offences were like:
-Communication for purposes of sex work was illegal.
-Living off of profits of sex work was illegal.
-Common Bawdy houses were illegal.

Question 19

What was the Bedford case that changed sex work laws?

Answer 19

Terry Jean Bedford’s case went to the Supreme Court where she argued that if the government wasn’t going to prohibit bad behaviour directly, then policing ancillary offences was only going to make sex workers more dangerous/harmful.

Supreme Court agreed, struck down on ancillary offences for infringing on rights to individuals security/liberty. Gave government 1 year to amend the criminal code.

Question 20

What happened to sex work post Bedford Case?

Answer 20

Canada adopted a more Nordic/Decriminalizaton model.

Argues that sex work is never a legitimate, authentic choice and that sex workers are always subject to state patriarchal violence.

Nordic model does not criminalize sellers of sex rather criminalized buyers or “Johns”.

Question 21

Where are some localities/hubs of VAIWG?

Answer 21

Vancouver (BC): The Downtown Eastside
- Increased vulnerability due to societal displacement, addiction, socio-economic marginalization, lack of social supports, being unhoused.

Northern BC: The Highway of Tears
-increased vulnerability due to remoteness and reduced mobility or transportation options, often results in hitchhiking.

Winnipeg
-The North End, West End, Reserves. Salter and Selkirk most populated street corner where women go missing.

Question 22

What is the most overrepresented group of people in prisons?

Answer 22

Indigenous women

Question 23

what is structural racism?

Answer 23

The use of policies and institutional practices of systems that perpetuate disadvantages for people of colour and uphold racial inequities in society

Question 24

what events contribute to intergenerational trauma?

Answer 24

residential schools, 60s scoop, Indian Act

Question 25

how many more times likely are Indigenous women to be subjected to physical, sexual and partner violence and die from it?

Answer 25

3 times more likely

Question 26

how do the police see Indigenous people?

Answer 26

as less credible and worthwhile victims

Question 27

what is the correction and conditional release act?

Answer 27

1994, practices supposed to be respectful of cultural differances

Question 28

how many more times higher are Indigenous women incarcerated compared to non-Indigenous, and what percentage are they of incarcerated women in the prairie region?

Answer 28

12.5 times more likely, and 70% of incarcerated in prairie region

Question 29

what are trauma trails?

Answer 29

multiple forms of victimization that impact Indigenous women’s journeys in and out of the CJS

Question 30

What are the issues with the limited resources and programs offered to Indigenous women who struggle with mental illness?

Answer 30

they do not take into account the history and social contexts which their issues may stem from

Question 31

how many more times are indingeous women more likely to self harm themselves than non-Indigenous women, and what does it lead to?

Answer 31

17 more times to self harm and it leads to increase in security classification so they have less access to programs

Question 32

what did the creating choices report recommend?

Answer 32

a strong mental health approach

Question 33

who makes up majority of the workers in the CJA and why is this bad?

Answer 33

white males, and this is not good for people for have been victimized and are traumatized, and they are also known to be victimizers

Question 34

what is the Indigenous correctional program called “Aboriginal issues”?

Answer 34

puts the blame on Indigenous culture itself

Question 35

how do Indigenous womens crimes compare to Indigenous men and non-Indigenous women, and what does this lead to?

Answer 35

they are not more violent than Indigenous men, but they are more violent than non-Indigenous women and this leads to a villinization of Indigenous women

Question 36

what is the Gladue decision?

Answer 36

1999, take into consideration the effects of colonization when sentencing, consider their social circumstances

Question 37

How long after the Gladue decision was made did staff get training on it?

Answer 37

12 years, the system was ill prepared to enforce gladue principles

Question 38

what is the Okimaw Ohci healing lodge?

Answer 38

founded by Indigenous women in Saskatchewan and it uses Indigenous specific programming, female Indigenous staff, elders, there is a medium to minimum security requirement.

Question 39

what good has the Okimaw Ohci healing lodge done?

Answer 39

lowered recidivism rates and recognizes the gap in services for Inuit women