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The Women's ProgramDid you know that October is Women's History Month in Canada?Women's History Month represents an opportunity to highlight women's contributions and to recognize the achievements of diverse women as a vital part of our Canadian history. It also represents an opportunity to show how we all benefit from the efforts of our foremothers in our on-going quest for equality and represents an ideal opportunity to instill a sense of pride in our collective accomplishments. This year's theme is “Aboriginal Women”. We will be posting a series of fact sheets highlighting the realities of Aboriginal women as well as their contributions to their communities and families and the unique challenges they face.
VIOLENCE AGAINST ABORIGINAL WOMENViolence against Aboriginal women and their children is a result of a constant social stress that has resulted from government policies imposed on Aboriginal peoples without their consent. The social and economic marginalization of Aboriginal women, along with government policies that have separated families and communities, have pushed a disproportionate number of Aboriginal women into dangerous situations and extreme poverty, homelessness and the sex trade industry. Police have been largely indifferent to the welfare and safety of these women and have allowed offenders to escape justice1. The crisis of violence against Aboriginal women was highlighted in Amnesty International’s report, Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada. In 1996, government statistics revealed that Aboriginal women between the ages of 25 and 44, with status under the Indian Act, were five times more likely than all other women of the same age to die as the result of violence2. Today, this statistic has not changed. From the 1870s through the mid-1980s, the Canadian government took away Aboriginal women's status as Aboriginal people under the federal Indian Act, along with their right to live in their home communities, if they married a non-Aboriginal man or a man from another community. This policy resulted in the displacement of tens of thousands of Aboriginal women, jeopardizing their ties to their families and increasing their dependence on their spouses. During roughly the same period, the government required Aboriginal children to be educated in off-reserve residential schools. Children were punished for speaking their language or practicing their cultures and many were subjected to inhumane living conditions and physical and sexual abuse3. The outcome of these policies has been the erosion of culture, the displacement of generations of Aboriginal women, the separation of children from their parents, and a cycle of poverty and violence that continues today. Amnesty International's research underscores the fact that the same history has contributed to a heightened risk of violence for Aboriginal women in urban centres in Canada. Generations of Aboriginal women and girls have been driven out of their communities by government policies. Many now face desperate conditions in Canadian urban centres and sexist stereotypes and racist attitudes toward Aboriginal women and girls. The result has been that far too many Aboriginal women and girls have been denied adequate protection under the law, and marginalized in a way that allows others to get away with carrying out violent crimes against them 4. Aboriginal Women Fight BackDespite the odds and the barriers, Aboriginal women are organized and have been working to eradicate violence for decades. Arguably, the biggest and most encompassing Aboriginal women’s organization is the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC). “NWAC was founded on the collective goal to enhance, promote, and foster the social, economic, cultural and political well-being of First Nations and Métis women within First Nation and Canadian societies” (NWCA mission statement: www.nwac-hq.org). Another important organization is Pauktuutit which “fosters greater awareness of the needs of Inuit women, advocates for equity and social improvements, and encourages their participation in the community, regional and national life of Canada” (Pauktuutit mission statement: www.pauktuutit.ca). Pauktuutit, NWAC, and their sister organizations in every province and territory, continue to advocate, lobby and initiate projects that have a positive impact on the safety of Aboriginal, Métis and Inuit women everywhere. The Sisters in Spirit is one such campaign specifically aimed at exposing and dealing with the disproportionate violence committed against Aboriginal women in Canada. The PSAC National Aboriginal, Inuit and Métis Circle (NAIM) is an active supporter of the Sisters in Spirit campaign and has made violence against Aboriginal women and their children one of its main priorities. It has been, and will continue to be, due to the leadership of Aboriginal women and the support of Aboriginal Brothers and community, Labour and social justice allies that campaigns, such Sisters in Spirit, have been successful at raising awareness at various levels including government and the broader community. These initiatives have also raised important resources to ensure that Aboriginal women who need a safe place to go have one accessible to them. It has made visible an important human right that has been ignored for far too long. To get involved with, support, or for more information on: 1 Amnesty International Report: Sisters in Spirit – Stolen Sisters. Released October 2004. |