VIOLENCE AGAINST ABORIGINAL WOMEN 1
The 2014 National Operational Overview, written by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, reported that there were 120 unsolved murders of Aboriginal women, and 105 missing Aboriginal women. This number continues to increase over time (Royal Canadian Mounted Police [RCMP], 2015). The rate of violence against Aboriginal women is tremendous, and the rate has not decreased over time, meaning the root cause of these injustices is still present within our society. Furthermore, the rate of Aboriginal women that have been assaulted remains much higher than the rate of Canadian women that are assaulted (Byrne, Abbott, Gottfred, 2014). This raises the question, why are Aboriginal women more likely to be attacked or murdered? …show more content…
The injustices against Aboriginal women are not made without a cause, and the root cause of the high rates of violence against Aboriginal women is the social inequality present within our society. The negative stigma surrounding Aboriginal communities is dangerous for Aboriginal women, more so than anyone else, but the stigma also affects every person that identifies as a part of the Aboriginal community. To understand social inequality against Aboriginal women, social inequality against the Aboriginal community as a whole must be explained. The negative stigma surrounding Aboriginal people is deeply rooted within our present Canadian society, and within Canadian history. In order to understand current social inequality, it is important to understand the social inequality in the past that prompted current social inequality. The assimilation of Aboriginal children in Canada was the time in history where it was made clear on a governmental and societal level that members of the Aboriginal community were of lesser status than the rest of the Canadian population (Naiman, 2012). Aboriginal children were forced to practice a culture and language other than the one they were taught their whole lives, and were forced to become what the missionary-run and government funded residential schools viewed as “normal” (Naiman, 2012). The Aboriginal way of living life was seen as inferior. Obviously, residential schools are no longer active and discrimination against the Aboriginal community is no longer so forward. However, social inequality against Aboriginal women in particular is still present, dangerous, and prevalent. The injustices made throughout Canadian history against members of the Aboriginal community can be used to explain the injustices and violence against Aboriginal women in our current
The 2014 National Operational Overview, written by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, reported that there were 120 unsolved murders of Aboriginal women, and 105 missing Aboriginal women. This number continues to increase over time (Royal Canadian Mounted Police [RCMP], 2015). The rate of violence against Aboriginal women is tremendous, and the rate has not decreased over time, meaning the root cause of these injustices is still present within our society. Furthermore, the rate of Aboriginal women that have been assaulted remains much higher than the rate of Canadian women that are assaulted (Byrne, Abbott, Gottfred, 2014). This raises the question, why are Aboriginal women more likely to be attacked or murdered? …show more content…
The injustices against Aboriginal women are not made without a cause, and the root cause of the high rates of violence against Aboriginal women is the social inequality present within our society. The negative stigma surrounding Aboriginal communities is dangerous for Aboriginal women, more so than anyone else, but the stigma also affects every person that identifies as a part of the Aboriginal community. To understand social inequality against Aboriginal women, social inequality against the Aboriginal community as a whole must be explained. The negative stigma surrounding Aboriginal people is deeply rooted within our present Canadian society, and within Canadian history. In order to understand current social inequality, it is important to understand the social inequality in the past that prompted current social inequality. The assimilation of Aboriginal children in Canada was the time in history where it was made clear on a governmental and societal level that members of the Aboriginal community were of lesser status than the rest of the Canadian population (Naiman, 2012). Aboriginal children were forced to practice a culture and language other than the one they were taught their whole lives, and were forced to become what the missionary-run and government funded residential schools viewed as “normal” (Naiman, 2012). The Aboriginal way of living life was seen as inferior. Obviously, residential schools are no longer active and discrimination against the Aboriginal community is no longer so forward. However, social inequality against Aboriginal women in particular is still present, dangerous, and prevalent. The injustices made throughout Canadian history against members of the Aboriginal community can be used to explain the injustices and violence against Aboriginal women in our current