Domestic Violence Against Indigenous Women

Family violence in Indigenous communities is linked with the Domestic violence policy (Parliament of Australia, 2011). The Current definition used by the Australia government to guide domestic violence policies. Is that domestic violence “refers to acts of violence that occur between people who have, or have had, an intimate relationship” (Chung & Wendt, 2015, p.202). In addition the policy states that violence in a family relationship to be between two people related by blood or marriage. (Department of communities Child Safety and Disability Services, 2012). Thus family violence must have a separate policy to be able to address the accurate impacts of the problem in Indigenous Communities (Larsen & Peterson, 2010).

In the most recent data available from 2015, it was disclosed that nearly 92,000 Canadians had report to the police an incident related to domestic violence; of this number, 80% of them were women (Burczycka, 2017). It is then no surprise that intimate partnership violence has been found to be one of the major causes of violence against women in Canada (Ministry of the Status of Women, 2015). Many agencies focus on supporting directly the female victims and providing them with secured shelters and safe spaces to rebuild themselves after leaving their abusive relationship (Shelter Safe, 2017). However, a need to address domestic violence from the roots arose in Ontario1982, when the community identified a gap in the offer of programs

Intimate partner violence has been a significant issue for centuries in all countries. "Since 1974, nearly 2,600 spousal homicides have been recorded in Canada" (Bunge, 2002). Of these homicides, more than three-quarters have been against women. Although through feminism and the women's liberation movement, there has been a slight improvement in the incidences of violence against women, there has also been a drastic change in the perception of the issue by society. After reviewing the most recent literature on violence against women and victimization through intimate partners, it has become prevalent that there are now two crucial stances that are taken. The first position is that of the women being victimized as the

Violence against Aboriginal women is rarely understood as a human rights issue. Aboriginal women are often known to be the main victims of racialized, sexualized violence. To the extent issue, violence against women are more frequent, to be described as a criminal concern or a social issue, but it is a human rights issue to be discussed furthermore. Aboriginal women and girls have the right to be safe and free from violence. Woman are being targeted for violence because of their gender or because of their Aboriginal identity. In this essay, I will be discussing the discrimination between these two following readings, “Orientalism” and “Stolen Sisters, Second Class Citizen”.

Even though Canada is one of the most developed countries in the world, there are still major human right violations that occur on a regular basis. The most prominent violation that occurs is the violence and discrimination against the indigenous women who live in Canada. Native women are seen as less by others for multiple reasons, mainly because they are native, Canadian women whose ancestors have always lived there. Also, there are stereotypes, corruption, and racism in the police force. Even though this is a massive problem it is possible to stop if we raise awareness, provide recourses to victims, and fix governmental corruption. Overall with this monstourus problem looming over Canada there

Domestic violence, alternatively referred to as Intimate Partner Violence, is defined by the Department of Justice as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner.” While domestic violence is commonly thought of as only physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence can also be emotional, economic, or psychological. Domestic violence has remained constant in society throughout history, even though over time society’s response to the issue has changed. While domestic violence affects everyone regardless of race, gender, age, etc. it is estimated that approximately 90% of all victims are women. For the purpose of this paper, I will be focusing on

Her research allows for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of societal perception of Indigenous women in relation to rates of violence. The supportive evidence contributes to a logical analysis of one aspect of intersectional theory, and clearly demonstrates an underlying cause to the treatment of Indigenous

If government officials are truly interested in assisting Indigenous communities in dealing with the violence in their communities, they should demonstrate this commitment by developing a national strategy to curb violence against Indigenous women. Special attention should be paid to the way race, gender, and power intersects in the violence faced by Indigenous women. Furthermore, as specifically mentioned by Professor Adam Jones of UBC Okanagan, the structural violence of their continuing poverty, discrimination and dispossession from ancestral territories, as well as the echoing trauma of the residential-school genocide needs to be assessed (Jones). Significantly, to address violence against Indigenous women successfully,

“Domestic violence is a type of abuse by one or both partners in marriage, friends, family, dating or cohabitation” (Aziz & Mahmoud, 2010). There are many forms of abuse from verbal and emotional to physical that often escalates over time in intensity for the victim. Data from the criminal justice system, hospital patient medical records and mental health records, police reports, surveys and social services reports of thousands of women revealed that many are injured and killed as a result of violence from someone close to them. “The US Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) defines domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender” (Robertson & Murachver, 2009). Researchers and the criminal justice system have not been able to agree on a clear definition to domestic violence which can range from physical injury, stalking, verbal abuse and humiliation, denial of shelter and access to money, and intimidation through aggressive behaviors. The definition of domestic violence may vary but the results from physical injury, mental and emotional trauma, and sometimes even death can last a life time.

Cindy L. Seaman, Linda J. Rubin, and Sally D. Stabb, all affiliated with Texas Woman’s University, composed the article: Women Domestic Violence Offenders: Lessons of Violence and Survival 2007. In result of the growing problem of women that are more frequently being arrested for assaulting their partners, the need for exploration and research to investigate this phenomenon, along with women’s motivations for current violence, was necessary. The author’s purpose and intent of the article was to highlight current intervention methods of domestic abuse and causation of why women choose to assault. By exploring this epidemic, perhaps treatment intervention methods could be discovered and implemented. In the introduction Seaman, Rubin, and Stabb brought necessary insight to the controversy over family conflict studies opposed to crime studies. The inconsistency with both reports is crucial when looking at women in relation to domestic abuse. This is because data conflicts. Family studies show an increase in both men and women abusers; claiming women abuse just as frequent as men. However, in crime studies and police statistics, reports indicate a much lower assault rate for women. Therefore, the authors chose a qualitative study, in hopes to discover why such data conflicts and to shed light on, perhaps, two different concepts altogether. The idea that couple-conflict is different from the idea of patriarchal terrorism, committed by

Domestic Violence is a human tragedy, and has been a part of life for many individuals. It is not subjective to a particular group, race, or culture. Historically, the feminist movement preserved the theory that domestic violence is a growing matter because of the continuous power differential between the male gender and the female gender. Remarkably, this approach on domestic disputes unveiled the inner workings of barriers men, women, and children would face when in a domestic violence situation. The feminist theory emphasizes on studying “the gendered nature of all relationships…which aims at understanding how gender is related to social inequalities and oppression” (Marsigila & Kulis, 2015, p. 148). Disastrously, an ignorant notion that once dominated our culture was the belief that emotional agony was less painful than physical brutality. However,

It is the view of this paper that scholars that have taken the vertical approach to studying domestic violence tend to exhibit bias against men while limiting their search for solution to domestic violence to men. This research sees everything wrong with this biased view and punctures it as insufficient since there are many cases of domestic violence against men. In the United States alone there is rising cases of domestic violence perpetuated against men by abusive spouses. Campbell Dennis (2010) writing in British Guardian observed that 40% of men suffer domestic violence in the United Kingdom. Also, statistics of domestic violence released by United States Center for Disease control shows significant rise in domestic violence against men. According to Weinberger, Bari Zell (2016), violated men face number of obstacles when domestic violence is being reported. He identified some factors effecting male victims of domestic to include; convincing the biased police who do not see women as abusers; getting help and shelter for victims; to the psychological

Domestic violence is not merely an individual crisis, but a social crisis. “Domestic violence is a burden on numerous sectors of the social system and quietly, yet dramatically, affects the development of a nation. Batterers cost nations fortunes in terms of law enforcement, health care, lost labor and general progress in development. These costs do not only affect the present generation; what begins as an assault by one person on another, reverberates through the family and the community into the future” (Kaur, R., &Garg, S, 2008, p.73). Women who were being harmed have begun to say speak out. “The domestic violence movement understands that the institutions of our culture reinforces the idea that violence within intimate relationships is acceptable and, at the same time, blame women for being victims of domestic violence” (History of Domestic Violence, n.d.). “Violence against women includes all verbal, physical, and sexual assaults which violate a woman’s physical body, sense of self and sense of trust, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, or country” (Alhabib, Nur, & Jones, 2009).

Gender based and intimate partner violence poses major public health problems and violations of women 's human rights. This pattern of violence can be traced back to the start of American society, when women were stripped of property rights, or any type of ownership, and they’re lives were owned by their husbands. The market culture that began to morph, as well as the self made man model that circulated in American culture, in a way convinced men that they were stronger than women. A tough man was an individual who knew how to keep his wife in her place, whatever means possible including committing intimate partner violence. In a time when women were beginning to exercise their reproductive rights and take leadership roles in the country, the self made man felt endangered and lashed out. In the 70’s through late 80’s there was a “surge” in reported intimate partner violence cases across the US, however even before this surge there were hundreds, if not thousands of women suffering from abuse. The men were unable to cope with their power over women vanishing from their hands.

Domestic violence is the most common form of violence against women and is seen (Denmark, 2013:80) as a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women which have led to the suppression of women by men. According to McCue (2008:3) domestic violence many at times starts as an isolated abusive incident, but