The World Health Organization Defines Violence Against 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).

Brownridge, D. A. (2003). Male Partner Violence Against Aboriginal Women in Canada: An Empirical Analysis. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18, 65-83. Retrieved f rom DOI: 10.1177/08862605 02238541.

Prior to the arrival of the Europeans to North America, and their colonization of the land, the Aboriginals lived prosperously. Notably, after the Europeans colonized the land, the woman’s role in the Aboriginal societies drastically changed. Originally, women played a large role in the political zone, as well as essential roles in their societies. Essentially, women in Aboriginal societies, were once considered to be integral parts to their society, and through the many attempts of assimilation from the Europeans, the women now have an insignificant role in their societies. Correspondingly, in the present year of 2014, women in Aboriginal societies seem to have no political power or voice and unfortunately, they have become the victims of many unsolved irrational violence attacks. Furthermore, a large and pertinent element to this problem would be the presence felt of the Indian Act. This led to the neglecting of Aboriginal women’s legal status as an Indian. The law had made women minorities; In order to obtain an Indian status, women would need to either marry an Aboriginal, or be the direct descendant of their father.

In Canada, there has been an on going concern in the matter of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Although many First nations individuals have many barriers placed upon them by society, the government and many other institutions. Indigenous women face many of these barriers very harshly. Aboriginal women are vulnerable to many different forms of abuse because of not only being female but also due to issues such as poverty. First nations citizens have been faced with extreme difficulties throughout every aspect of their lives. These difficulties ultimately include the discrimination they face daily from police services, lack of resources in order to assist their need, etc. There have been many problems which have lead up to the social problem of missing and murdered Indigenous women which include the historical upbringing of our First nations population, and unfortunately through recent factors as well. Theories like the feminist theory assist in the debunking of this problem and give us a brief insight into the situation. To this day, the very serious issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women is a key issue, which has been left with many cases unsolved. This in part clearly demonstrates the lack of efforts put in place by Canadian police in order to combat this problem. A case, which raised serious problems in North America, is the case of Lisa, a young Metis woman who at the age of fifteen disappeared walking home from a shopping trip, to which she was never found.

Over the past decades, Aboriginal people (the original people or indigenous occupants of a particular country), have been oppressed by the Canadian society and continue to live under racism resulting in gender/ class oppression. The history of Colonialism, and Capitalism has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how Aborignal people are treated and viewed presently in the Canadian society. The struggles, injustices, prejudice, and discrimination that have plagued Aboriginal peoples for more than three centuries are still grim realities today. The failures of Canada's racist policies toward Aboriginal peoples are reflected in the high levels of unemployment and poor education.

Throughout history, women have been the victims of oppression in society. In specific, Aboriginal women have suffered through racism, sexism, domestic violence, and over-representation. Through the implementation of the Indian Act, Aboriginal women have been forced to abandon their culture in order to assimilate into Canadian society. The effects of colonization has changed the way Aboriginal women are treated; emotionally and physically, and therefore are the source of oppression today.

Witnesses raised concerns of the non-response of police services to cases of violence against Aboriginal women. In domestic violence situations, police do not always respond in a timely manner to calls for assistance. Witnesses also stated that police sometimes dismiss claims of sexual assault if the woman is Aboriginal and leads a “high-risk” lifestyle.

This is a result of having fused with mainstream culture from their smaller villages there has been a bad transition, which has led to a massive amount of frustration among natives, "strong feeling of disenfranchisement, which manifests itself as violence amongst men and against women." (Robinson, 3). A lack of education for both the indigenous and the other citizens of Canada lead to uneducated assumptions about the aboriginals. There is also an issue with lack of enforcement by Canadian police. The police will often delay responses domestic violence calls or ignore completely, "Most societies prohibit such violence- yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tactically condoned."(“The Facts on Violence against Women”, 2). The transition of indigenous people has been poorly planned and executed which has led to frustrations among everyone that has come out in the form of violence. Another big part is that the citizens of Canada see them as foreign and people who should be treated differently along with the indigenous people not getting proper educations that lead to limited opportunities and lower standings in the government and social lives. The last part of why this dilemma persists is that the Canadian police force hasn’t enforced domestic abuse laws, not responded to calls, and let abusers off the hook for severe crimes. Generally, an incomplete transition by the Canadian government and a lack

“These folks have been victimized twice. Once when their daughters, their sisters, their mothers have gone missing. And then, a second time when the justice system has utterly failed them in the pursuit of the justice they so rightly deserve. There can be no solution until we get to the truth in the heart of the matter, that this is a complex issue. The sources of this violence against Aboriginal women and girls is complex, but it… there’s no possibility of finding those solutions unless we actually have the truth on the table. And the resistance from this government time and time again, to have the courage and the leadership to approach this conversation and find that truth… is yet a third victimization of these families” (Pope C. & Smiley M., 2015)

In the article “Domestic violence against indigenous women is everybody’s problem” domestic violence is depicted as a serious social problem that involves “unspeakable acts of violence” that leaves victims experiencing fear and despair (Taylor 2014). More specifically, the social construction of domestic violence will be discussed with an emphasis on Aboriginal women and a typology of intimate partner violence. The social construction of domestic violence has serious implications for victims of domestic abuse because there is a failure to address the processes that perpetuate the violence. Instead, domestic violence is addressed through the illusion of social support. What is evident is that domestic violence is a social problem that requires comprehensive services, particularly for indigenous women, to address the complexity of the interaction between the individual’s social location and the causes that lead to the violence.

Women no matter where they are in the world are too often victims of violence. They face higher rates than men both if it is sexual assault, stalking, or severe spousal abuse and usually the results are that women will end up extremely injured or dead. With young women suffering the highest rates of violence, Aboriginal women in particular face an increased risk of violence compared to non-Aboriginal women. Aboriginal women in Canada are three times more likely to experience crucial and severe violence compared to non-Aboriginal women. Most of these women end up missing and murdered. The predicaments of missing and murdered Aboriginal women has brought tremendous pain and suffering in homes, in families and throughout Aboriginal communities. Many sources and factors have contributed to hindering solving this issue. Media and discrimination have long been known to have played a huge role in this tragedy.

In April 1995 Pamela George, an Ojibway women, was brutally murdered in Saskatchewan. Her murderers Steven Kummerfield and Alex Ternowetsky, young middle-class white men, were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to merely six and a half years in prison. George’s story is one of the many Indigenous women who have been murdered or missing over the past years. There are over 580 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, close to half are put aside and left unsolved. Only 53% of these cases have lead to charges of homicide (Klement 8). Drastically, statistics indicate that Aboriginals are faced with more hardships throughout their life compared to the average Canadian. Indigenous groups, particularly women, suffer from a lower rate of education, higher suicide rates and an array of health risks. This paper will examine the role settler colonization history has played in perpetuating conditions for violence to indigenous women, many of which are still experienced today. This will be accomplished by first assessing the history of settler colonization and its negative repercussions. Secondly, it will use Sherene Razak’s concept of “spatial segregation,” to illustrate how state institutions have facilitated violence through space, race and the law. Lastly, this paper will use evidence from the film “Finding Dawn” to further demonstrate how violence towards indigenous women is institutionally produced.

Domestic violence is an issue that is impacting the indigenous Australian population (Korff, J. 2015).This should be concerning to Australians so that they may help reduce fatal deaths by domestic violence (Korff, J. 2015).

According to the United Nations (1993), violence against women is “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”. Violence can occur in many forms including; physical, sexual, emotional violence, any of these types of violence committed by an ex or current partner is referred to as, intimate partner violence (domestic violence) (World Health Organisation, 2005). One in four women in Australia have experienced violence by a partner and are three times more likely to experience partner violence than men (ANROWS, 2017). Violence against women causes long lasting effects on victim’s health, friends families and whole communities (Our Watch, 2016). This violence also has economic effects with health, legal, police and judicial services. Although it is difficult to measure social costs, it is clear women who are affected by domestic violence are less likely to participate in the work force and have access to education as well as impacting on children’s welfare and educational opportunities. This can often lead to teenage pregnancies and dropping out of school (Garcia-MorenoI & Watts, 2011). Australia has recognised the issue and in turn, has introduced a national plan to address violence against women.

When the sex of a girl or a woman drives the infliction of violence towards them, it is regarded as a form of gender based violence (Heise et al., 2002). Violence against women, regardless of the form, can occur in various stages of the woman’s life (Murthy and Smith, 2010), and refers not only to physical and sexual acts of violence, but also encompasses verbal abuse, emotional torture, economic deprivation, and social disregard (Kapoor and Dhingra, 2013).