Lesson #3: Violence Affecting Indigenous Women Flashcards
Violence Affecting Indigenous Women
(3)
(1) are almost three times more likely than non-Indigenous women to become a victim of a violent crime in Canada.
(2) more likely to be victims of spousal violence than are non-Indigenous women
(3) close to half (48 per cent) of these Indigenous women reported the most severe forms of violence, which included being sexually assaulted, choked, beaten, or threatened with a gun or knife.
Amnesty International reports that:
Indigenous women in Canada aged 25 to 44 are five times more likely than non-Indigenous Canadians in the same age group to die of violence
Before the arrival of the Europeans, some Indigenous societies and communities were:
(3)
(1) matriarchal, which means that women headed the social organization of the community
(2) Even in those that were not matriarchal, Indigenous women still had significant roles, including taking part in politics, decision making, family life, marriage, and ceremonial life
(3) Women were often in charge of key decisions—in some Indigenous societies, women would even select which men would be in positions of leadership
When European religion, customs, and laws were forced on Indigenous peoples:
women’s roles began to be devalued.
Other effects of colonization also contribute to the high degree of violence many Indigenous women face today.
many families are struggling not only with multiple risk factors resulting from the legacies of abuse in residential schools but also with the fact that their traditional ways of recognizing women as equal and sacred have been undermined and damaged.
Another related factor that perpetuates violence against Indigenous women:
stereotyping caused by discrimination
As of March 2010, the Sisters in Spirit initiative estimated that:
582 Indigenous women in Canada had gone missing or had been murdered over the past 30 years
data show that, although they represent only 4.3 per cent of the total female population in Canada:
Indigenous women represent 16 per cent of the female homicides in Canada.
In response to the Highway of Tears, in the fall of 2005, the RCMP established:
(2)
(1) Project E-PANA, an initiative specifically designated to investigate the Highway of Tears cases
(2) investigates cases of missing or murdered women dating from 1969 to 2006 that took place along or near three BC highways (16, 97, and 5).
In February of 2013, they released a report documenting the lack of police accountability, abusive policing, and the failure of police and the government to protect Indigenous women and girls in northern British Columbia.
the Human Rights Watch
This final report highlights how people in authority not only have ignored their responsibility to protect Indigenous women and girls but also have taken advantage of them.
Those Who Take Us Away: Abusive Policing and Failures in Protection of Indigenous Women and Girls in Northern British Columbia, Canada
Project Evenhanded
in January 2001, the RCMP and VPD created a special taskforce on missing women
The final report by the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry highlighted:
the systematic bias of the police.
the Report noted two measures as needing immediate attention
(1) the allocation of funding to existing centres that provide emergency services to women in the sex trade
(2) the development and implementation of an enhanced public transit system in northern BC communities (most notably along Highway 16)
A significant recommendation of the report:
To put in place measures to enhance the safety of vulnerable women. Initially, these would involve conducting evaluations of current programming and developing new protocols to measure high-risk offenders
One day after the release of the Human Rights Watch report Those Who Take Us Away (on February 15, 2013), Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett called for the launch of:
a missing and murdered women’s committee. A unanimous vote on February 27, 2013, approved it.
The mandate of the missing and murdered women’s committee was to:
study violence affecting Indigenous women
the missing and murdered women’s committee comprised a report titled what?
Invisible Women: A Call to Action—A Report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada
One reason for the expressed disappointment of the missing and murdered women’s committee report was:
that the report’s final 16 recommendations did not reflect the witnesses’ testimony
What was notably missing from the missing and murdered women’s committee report?
the recommendation that a national public inquiry into the missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada be established, along with a national action plan to address this crisis
common aspects found throughout Indigenous societies in North America are:
the influence and importance of women
internalized colonialism
whereby Indigenous peoples themselves will start to internalize feelings of self-doubt. Such as thinking that they are inferior, and start to internalize colonizers pressed negative views. And in some cases might even try to imitate and follow the colonizer, taking on horrible and untrue beliefs about themselves, and as a result, develop self-hatred for who they are.
What does the headdress symbolize for JJ Nepin?
It is a symbol of leadership - it is something that is earned.
What does Nadya Kwandibens say in regards to the importance of the headdress?
(2)
(1) t is not something to be taken lightly.
(2) It is a responsibility you have to your nation - your fellow man.
