Violence Against Indigenous Women

In chapter nine of The Colonial Problem: An Indigenous Perspective on Crime and Injustice in Canada, Lisa Monchalin discusses the violence specifically affecting Indigenous women. In examining this, she brings to light how past colonialism lead to the sexualization and subjugation of Indigenous women which ultimately results in the violence committed against them presently. In traditional Indigenous societies, there is usually fair treatment between men and women. Monchalin states that in many cases, Indigenous women were “valued, honoured, respected and viewed as sacred human beings” (Monchalin, 2016). In contrast to this view, “European men have historically viewed women as subordinates who were the property of men,” who much like the land, …show more content…
One way that this can be addressed is by working to correct and eliminate the stereotypes. An example of a way in which this can be done is by removing the racist costumes from the shelves and by providing further education to individuals on the issue. Additionally, the government can take further steps to tackle the issue by making a greater effort into solving and preventing further cases of violence against Indigenous women. The government can work towards achieving this by providing more funding for greater support and resources for those that are at risk. This funding can be used for various measures such as providing education on the risks of situations (i.e. hitchhiking) which can make them more vulnerable to crime, they can also use the funding to provide adequate transportation so that there is not a need for them to be in potentially harmful situations such as hitchhiking. Along with this, greater media attention should be brought to this issue as a means of bringing awareness and educating society in a way that does not portray these women in negative ways but rather in ways that shows that they are in fact, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, etc. In this way, it allows for the focus to be placed on the humanity of these victims and decreases the normalization of the atrocities committed against them. Furthermore, in presenting the stories of the missing and murdered indigenous women, we as a society can hopefully acknowledge what is occurring as a means of taking steps towards ending it. In the end, it is clear that although there are various factors that contribute to the violence against Indigenous women, there is still much we can do to prevent and possibly end