Statistics from the 2004 General Social Survey on Victimization show that 40% of Aboriginal[1] Canadians have been victims of criminal activities and/or hate crime. This number is almost twice the number of non-Aboriginal Canadians who were victims of crime. Indigenous women make up a high percentage of this number. As the class and power struggle between Indigenous[1] and non-indigenous Canadians intensifies, Indigenous women are burdened with both gender and race based abhorrence. There have been numerous cases of Aboriginal women missing, being abused or murdered. A heartbreaking example of this is the case of Christine Wood, a 21 year old Aboriginal woman. Christine was last seen on August 19th, 2016, in the St. James area. She had left
…show more content…
It is sickening that people can simply “go missing”. These crimes against aboriginal women are indubitably gender and race based.
“People around me reinforced that "success" and "native" were mutually exclusive concepts. Some said that despite my native heritage, I was a darn good student. A credit to my race!” Says Lou James, a writer on Huffington Post. Lou comes from an aboriginal family and grew up around a lot of them. In his post, he talks openly about abusive households where husbands physically abused their wives and that most of the aboriginals, as per common views, are alcoholics, in the streets, fighting or doing drugs. This in fact is true! A lot of them are as it seems. A small number of them have made a decent living out of their lives, says Lou. This chain of downfall started way back when the Europeans started forcing Christianity and their languages on the natives. The power struggle between the Europeans and …show more content…
These factors all seem to be prevalent in Aboriginal communities. Domestic violence is the main habit of violence against aboriginal women according to the Canadian Department of Justice. Almost 25% of aboriginal women have reported domestic violence issues to authority as opposed to 7% of non-aboriginal women. A study by Ontario Native Women’s Association conducted in 2007 says that, if we take into account the number of unreported cases of domestic violence is aboriginal households, almost 90% of aboriginal women face domestic violence issues. Many of the aboriginal women face poverty, which drives them into prostitution. In this way, they are victimized. More gruesome things happen to aboriginal women. Sometimes they are literally beaten to death. Even worse is when they are killed for the sole purpose of harvesting their organs. To further push this, the racist and sexist portrayal of aboriginal women not only crush their self-esteems but also encourage violence against them. For many years, aboriginal families have been portrayed as consisting of an abusive husband and a wife who is constantly physically
It is sickening that people can simply “go missing”. These crimes against aboriginal women are indubitably gender and race based.
“People around me reinforced that "success" and "native" were mutually exclusive concepts. Some said that despite my native heritage, I was a darn good student. A credit to my race!” Says Lou James, a writer on Huffington Post. Lou comes from an aboriginal family and grew up around a lot of them. In his post, he talks openly about abusive households where husbands physically abused their wives and that most of the aboriginals, as per common views, are alcoholics, in the streets, fighting or doing drugs. This in fact is true! A lot of them are as it seems. A small number of them have made a decent living out of their lives, says Lou. This chain of downfall started way back when the Europeans started forcing Christianity and their languages on the natives. The power struggle between the Europeans and …show more content…
These factors all seem to be prevalent in Aboriginal communities. Domestic violence is the main habit of violence against aboriginal women according to the Canadian Department of Justice. Almost 25% of aboriginal women have reported domestic violence issues to authority as opposed to 7% of non-aboriginal women. A study by Ontario Native Women’s Association conducted in 2007 says that, if we take into account the number of unreported cases of domestic violence is aboriginal households, almost 90% of aboriginal women face domestic violence issues. Many of the aboriginal women face poverty, which drives them into prostitution. In this way, they are victimized. More gruesome things happen to aboriginal women. Sometimes they are literally beaten to death. Even worse is when they are killed for the sole purpose of harvesting their organs. To further push this, the racist and sexist portrayal of aboriginal women not only crush their self-esteems but also encourage violence against them. For many years, aboriginal families have been portrayed as consisting of an abusive husband and a wife who is constantly physically