On every continent of planet Earth there are Aboriginal communities; all struggling with equality. Aboriginals in general are treated lesser than the other citizens in their country but the women are treated even worse because of the sole reason that they are female and perceived as weak and expendable. Aboriginal women are treated in similar ways as the main stream demographic of Canadian women were treated in the before the 1920s; not permitted to be involved with policy making, viewed as lesser and abused brutally. The women of Canada fought their way to a more equal society and aboriginal women are trying to but are faced with so many roadblocks. It will not be an easy task to derail the man-dominating society which makes up their communities.
Aboriginal inequality especially the inequality of the women, started during colonialism. When the British explorers came to new land, regardless of which continent or subcontinent they came to colonize they were met by aboriginals. Since the British were a patriarchal society the explorers had the same perspective and based their interpretation of the natives off of their own views. When the British went to Australia to colonize it they were met by an aboriginal community. This community as a whole was pushed to the corners of the valuable land and the women were further suppressed. The British set the example, then set the policies to lead the aboriginals to become severely patriarchal. This included women being forbidden from attending policy meetings regarding school, communities, and politics. In addition to not being permitted to have their opinion about community development heard they were further diminished by having their aboriginal status stripped from them. Aboriginal women had everything taken away from them and without a choice, became completely dependent on the mercy of the British and the men in their community. The women were very vulnerable to addiction because they did not have any guidance of how to survive. Without proper education about the dangers of alcohol they thought it was easing their pain while in reality they were becoming addicted to the substance; again suppressed. The entirety of the suppression of aboriginal women was not exclusive to Australia’s aboriginal communities nor is it something that only happened in the past. Currently there is suppression of aboriginal women globally.
Since native women are not legally equal, not equal in status and not positively involved in the community, the men began to become corrupt and remain corrupt. The men in the aboriginal communities learnt violence from the colonists and applied it to their daily lives with expertise. Multiple kidnappings and raping of women happen on a daily bases globally. In the aboriginal communities women live in fear of the other gender because they know first-hand how brutally they treat women. Treating specifically women brutally is a learned skill passed down from generation to generation starting with the native communities that were first tainted with colonialism. Aboriginal women have the right to protection from all forms of violence and discrimination as stated by the UN. However, even with the right, the fact is that in America women are 2.5 times more likely to be raped/sexually abused than other women in America. In America every 1 in 3 aboriginal women will be sexually abused comparable to the 1 in every 5 other American women who will be raped. Both of these statistics are high and a result of a patriarchal society. Not only are women vulnerable to sexual violence but also vulnerable to physical violence and murder. The perceptions of the women are perceived as expendable and the men feel obligated to take out their frustration on the women of the community. In America there are about 581 missing aboriginal women and search parties have stopped searching, or never began searching for them. Other people in America have huge search parties going out every day, posters, radio and television ads are made regarding the missing persons. The entire community is made aware of the missing person and avidly participate in looking for them or sending condolences to the family members of the missing individual. The 581 aboriginal women did not get the same treatment. Even worse is that occasionally the abusers are the police themselves. The people put in a position of authority and have a job to protect citizens, abuse and rape the women. Although it is not overly common, it does happen and it is wrong. Cases of a small group of male police officers kidnapping and raping aboriginal women have been reported but not in the mainstream media. 581 missing, and very few know that fact.
A pitiful patriarchal society has led the exclusion and violence directed to aboriginal women. The women are pushed out of politics and not permitted to contribute their thoughts and ideas to their own community’s development. They are treated poorly and violent actions are taken against the aboriginal women daily. Colonialism threw the aboriginal communities into a downward spiral which they are trying to fix, with very little positive outcome from their efforts.
Aboriginal inequality especially the inequality of the women, started during colonialism. When the British explorers came to new land, regardless of which continent or subcontinent they came to colonize they were met by aboriginals. Since the British were a patriarchal society the explorers had the same perspective and based their interpretation of the natives off of their own views. When the British went to Australia to colonize it they were met by an aboriginal community. This community as a whole was pushed to the corners of the valuable land and the women were further suppressed. The British set the example, then set the policies to lead the aboriginals to become severely patriarchal. This included women being forbidden from attending policy meetings regarding school, communities, and politics. In addition to not being permitted to have their opinion about community development heard they were further diminished by having their aboriginal status stripped from them. Aboriginal women had everything taken away from them and without a choice, became completely dependent on the mercy of the British and the men in their community. The women were very vulnerable to addiction because they did not have any guidance of how to survive. Without proper education about the dangers of alcohol they thought it was easing their pain while in reality they were becoming addicted to the substance; again suppressed. The entirety of the suppression of aboriginal women was not exclusive to Australia’s aboriginal communities nor is it something that only happened in the past. Currently there is suppression of aboriginal women globally.
Since native women are not legally equal, not equal in status and not positively involved in the community, the men began to become corrupt and remain corrupt. The men in the aboriginal communities learnt violence from the colonists and applied it to their daily lives with expertise. Multiple kidnappings and raping of women happen on a daily bases globally. In the aboriginal communities women live in fear of the other gender because they know first-hand how brutally they treat women. Treating specifically women brutally is a learned skill passed down from generation to generation starting with the native communities that were first tainted with colonialism. Aboriginal women have the right to protection from all forms of violence and discrimination as stated by the UN. However, even with the right, the fact is that in America women are 2.5 times more likely to be raped/sexually abused than other women in America. In America every 1 in 3 aboriginal women will be sexually abused comparable to the 1 in every 5 other American women who will be raped. Both of these statistics are high and a result of a patriarchal society. Not only are women vulnerable to sexual violence but also vulnerable to physical violence and murder. The perceptions of the women are perceived as expendable and the men feel obligated to take out their frustration on the women of the community. In America there are about 581 missing aboriginal women and search parties have stopped searching, or never began searching for them. Other people in America have huge search parties going out every day, posters, radio and television ads are made regarding the missing persons. The entire community is made aware of the missing person and avidly participate in looking for them or sending condolences to the family members of the missing individual. The 581 aboriginal women did not get the same treatment. Even worse is that occasionally the abusers are the police themselves. The people put in a position of authority and have a job to protect citizens, abuse and rape the women. Although it is not overly common, it does happen and it is wrong. Cases of a small group of male police officers kidnapping and raping aboriginal women have been reported but not in the mainstream media. 581 missing, and very few know that fact.
A pitiful patriarchal society has led the exclusion and violence directed to aboriginal women. The women are pushed out of politics and not permitted to contribute their thoughts and ideas to their own community’s development. They are treated poorly and violent actions are taken against the aboriginal women daily. Colonialism threw the aboriginal communities into a downward spiral which they are trying to fix, with very little positive outcome from their efforts.
Oh wow, I knew aboriginals had it worse but I never thought it was like that. Is there anything we can do to help these women out? Or has it progressed too far that we can't really do anything? - Sam L
ReplyDeleteI did not think that this issue was actually as bad as it is, considering we are taught in elementary school about native communities and how they lived a peaceful and respectful lifestyle, and it sounded like everyone got equal treatment. Do you think the situation would be different if the aboriginal communities had not been colonized or affected by Europeans? Was gender equality an issue prior to colonization? I'd like to know if any solutions have been suggested or if anyone has spoken up about this issue, or will it continue to go unnoticed?
ReplyDeleteComment above is Laura Obdeyn (whoops)
ReplyDeleteI found this interesting because we have people of aboriginal and native decent living right in our communities. The statistics of the crime towards aboriginal women compared to American women really surprised me, I had no idea that Aboriginal women endured such mistreatment in their communities. How can we help regain their rights not as aboriginals, but as human beings? Do you think that the situation has gotten better over the years or worse?
ReplyDelete-Rebecca Hawkins
Thanks Laura and Sam for commenting!
ReplyDeleteA solid action plan, in some communities has already started. In British Columbia one of the bands had a local election four males and four females ran. It was not planned that way but the women thought it was about time to share their opinions and they were welcomed by the community with ease. A male did win that election, but he was a really great politician. The women ran because they felt empowered and comfortable enough about themselves. Also the men in the community learned equality throughout their lives. The situation for aboriginal women can change with more education towards both genders. Men need to learn that to be a "man" does not mean to be violent and women need to learn that they are worth more than how they are being treated. The stats in Africa can be applied to these aboriginal communities; the more education women receive the lower the poverty rates are. If there was less poverty in these communities people's qualities of life will increase. Gender equality was not an issue in the aboriginal communities before colonization, there were other issues but the colonists enforced the laws to which the aboriginals were obligated to follow which led to the patriarchal society they live in. This issue will not be talked about on main stream media in detail or for any extensive productive time because it makes people feel uncomfortable. Almost every single person has an opinion about what aboriginals deserve or don't deserve without knowing BOTH sides of the story. If the issue was publicized it would likely be covered by other scandals in the aboriginal communities rather than the fear and suffering these women have endured for a long time.
Thanks Rebecca!
ReplyDeleteMy previous post covered how we can help. Education to both genders, but mostly women. Over the recent years the situation has gotten better in some parts (women running to be politicians) and in other communities progress is stagnant. Aboriginals are all over, yes including in our Aldershot community, so obviously they are not experiencing quite the same lifestyle as the women in Australia who are attacked because they are female. There is hope for change!