The Oppression of the North Korean People

David Knowles, Daily News, 2013

General Overview

North Korea, located in East Asia, is possibly the most oppressive regime in the world currently. It has been a communist dictatorship for the greater part of the 20^th century and all under the rule of one family, known as the Kim dynasty. North Korean’s undergo several human rights violations; however it is extremely hard to monitor these violations due to the privacy of the nation and countless North Koreas are forced to suffer through horrible conditions with little hope of escape or relief from their oppressive nation.

Famine

One of the most pressing concerns for North Koreas is famine. Food shortages and starvation are not uncommon amongst these people. This is mainly due to poor management of agricultural resources, because all food distribution is controlled largely by the regime if there is a failure in the state-run food markets then famine occurs. These famines are usually shorter micro-famines, which end up forcing families to try and grow their own local food in case of a shortage. This however is disapproved by the North Korean government because it weakens their control over the food market.

In certain parts of the country food shortages are so common that it is not unusual to hear reports of cannibalism. There have been cases of infanticide as a means to acquire meat food. Families are warned that if they do not know where their meat came from that they should not eat it. Mothers are concerned to let their children play in the streets during the night, in fear that they will be abducted and killed to be used as a food source.

Although these micro-famines could be eliminated if North Korea were to open up secondary food trade with other nations, even if it were just as a safe guard. North Korea did receive some relief from the UN and China, however in the recent months due to nuclear threats by North Korea to the United States and South Korea, much of that relief has been cut off. If North Korea isn’t to localize food productions or open up secondary food trade they could be lead into a much more devastating and wide spread food shortage.

Oppressive Society

                Oppression truly is the best word to describe North Korea, the oppression of knowledge, privacy and rights are all issues. Children are educated to believe that their nation is the best in the world, learning much about the Kim dynasty but little of the outside world (H Lee, 2013). This is bringing about a whole generation that is being falsely educated and poorly informed about much of the world.

North Korea is considered one of the most oppressive nations in the world and for good reason. There are ten concentration camps throughout North Korea. Conditions inside these camps are inhuman and hold extremely high casualty rates, some being estimated as high as 25% (T Head, 2012). This is largely due to there being no due process system, meaning there is no justice system and torture, imprisoning and executions can happen at will without any trails. There are also public executions used as a fear tactic to condition citizens and most North Koreas will see their first public executions before the age of ten.

Underground Railroad

With all of the atrocities that happen within North Korea it is clear to see why people would be trying to escape this country. Due to the closed borders exiting this country is close to impossible, especially across the border into South Korea. However many people do try to escape into China, even if it is for a short period of time just to find some food or work. The relief found in China is often little and dangerous. Women can be kidnapped and sold in China to Chinese men looking for a bride, often getting them into abusive relationships that sadly are a better alternative to life in North Korea. Children and men may pick up low paying jobs  for a couple of mouths but because China is still allied with North Korea they gather up escaped North Koreans by the hundred and ship them back to North Korea where they are either imprisoned or executed. Very few North Koreas actually escape, and not even one thousand are recorded to have been successful.

Conclusion

                The North Korean people survive within one of the worst places in the world. Food shortages, poor education, oppressive laws with little regulations and a little hope of escape. Due to the extreme privacy of the nation we only see a few of the potentially tons of violations happening within North Korea. If North Korean policies were to change a lot of these issues could be solved, if no measures are taken then other nations must step up and take action.

Jack Tidd - Drugs on Drugs (real one)

Columbian Drug Trade

The Issue lies in Columbia where cocaine and marijuana are being gown and smuggled into the US and Canada. Since 1970 Columbia has been solely responsible for some of the most violent and sophisticated drug trafficking gangs and organizations in the world. This trade is so profitable that the traffickers are able to purchase and build high tech equipment for smuggling even more cocaine into the US. What only cost roughly $1,500 to make in a lab in the jungle, sold for around $50,000 a kilo on the streets in America. This astounding profit led to the business attracting characters you wouldn’t normally expect to see taking over such as cattle farmers and businessmen.

The two biggest cartels involved were the Medellin and Cali Cartels. The Medellin cartel self destructed when it grew to power too quickly and the Cali cartel is said to still be operating even though the leaders are behind bars.

This issue was, and still is mainly involving Columbia, the US and Canada. Although, notably, cocaine usage in Britain and many European countries has more than doubled in the past few years, most of their cocaine is exported from Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. It negatively impacts the social aspect of the countries the drugs are smuggled into. Drug usage went up as more and more cocaine began to enter the US and recent studies show that 1 in 15 citizens in the US have ‘tried’ cocaine. This impacts users families and close friends and increases criminal gang activity in many major cities.

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Cocaine being such a widely exported good is obviously a major component of Latin America’s economy. The drugs annual revenue is estimated to rake in $9-10 billion. Cocaine accounts for around two thirds of America’s annual drug spending which is a total of $31 billion of the $49 billion annual spending. A funny fact is that Americans spend more money on cocaine than on airline tickets, gas utilities, or magazines and newspapers. Due to the market being so large it is considered the lifeline of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru’s economies. An estimated 500,000 Andeans work in the cocaine cycle. About 1.5 percent of Columbia’s work force, and 3 Percent of Bolivia and Peru work in cocaine. These staggering number go to show just how reliant certain economies can be on these illicit hard drugs.

Today Columbia has fallen from the #1 spot for cocaine distribution. Many wonder why. Colombia used to be responsible for 42% of the worlds cocaine and in 2012 it was reported that Columbia had fallen behind Peru and Bolivia. This is believed to have been due to a ramping up of enforcement by the Colombian government. The US helped to fund Plan Columbia, spraying weed killer from planes. This was coupled with the demand from the US dropping. In just a two-year span from 2006-2008, regular cocaine usage went from 3% of American adults to 2.2%. Colombia’s fall from the #1 spot is being described as “historic”. If we are able to use the same methods on other major cocaine distributors we can potentially solve the cocaine problem in North America.

Though the statistics look hopeful, there’s always more statistics to squash them over. Peru’s cocaine production has increased by 40% and is coming up as the world Cocaine leader. This goes to show that no matter whom you crush, another leader will always rise. Latin Americans call this ‘Cockroach Effect’ you can kill the cockroaches in one corner of your house but regardless they’ll pop up in another. We are far from finding a permanent solution to this issue; rather, the war on drugs is constantly going one step forward and two steps back.

Paris - European Energy Crisis

Every day we hear about the lack of oil, or the cost of water, or how concentrated the UV rays hitting our skin any moment we are out in the sun. These are all arguably local issues which makes sense considering how much time and effort we put into these issues. One issue that not too many are actually aware of is the lack of energy; the by product of rising scarcity of natural resources.

I'm sure people think, "Well duh, obviously if we don't have natural resources we don't have energy," but what people fail to do is make the proper connection between our consumption of natural resources and our production of electricity. People have a simple image in their mind of our resource management, mainly because it's not something we think about on a regular basis. Are are told all the time that one day we will run out of natural resources and people think, "Oh no, I won't be able to drive," which is merely a small pixel in this whole picture. If we run out of resources than we run out of electricity as well. You won't be able to drive your car sure, but you also won't be able to turn on your TV, or charge your phone, or even write a blog!

Currently in Europe, many people are coming to this realization. The issue itself has been being presented every year, but still no one really thought the danger was anywhere near. This year, the price of natural gas skyrocketed in the UK due to the shutting down of the UK's biggest import lines raising prices of natural gas up 50% in one day. Since then, the price has dropped a little, but it sure was a wake up call for the entire UK.

As previously stated, the lack of natural resources effects the prices of electricity greatly. Currently in the UK the price of electricity is 0.21CAD/kWh which is almost 3x that of the electricity prices that we pay here in Canada (0.06CAD/kWh) and the UK has the lower costs for their electricity. Electricity costs in Germany are this year 0.35CAD/kWh, 5x more than what we pay here in Canada! Unfortunately for Europe, the prices are only going to continue to rise.

People may be wondering why this crisis is happening in Europe and not quite happening here in North America. This is mainly because here in Canada we have more land than people. We have plenty of land in North America that we use to gather natural resources which Europe lacks. Europe has much higher population densities. Even worse is how terribly Europe has been developed. Because Europe was pretty much where the world started developing first so no
w they are out of most natural resources. Another down side is that many buildings in Europe are less than 3 stories high and in the oldest parts apartment buildings are scarce at best. If the population of Europe was living using the same housing as China then they would have more land to work with and have more of a concrete infrastructure for pipelines and electrical lines etc.

Solutions to this problem are in the works such as creating more, larger wind fields, but like previously stated, they do not have as much land to work with that would help them. Other solutions would be technological advancements that can help make energy more efficient. For instance, a new electrode has been discovered that expands the lifetime of batteries 5x and the charging time by half! Advancements like this will definitely help the continent move towards more affordable lifestyles.

Neurotoxins & Your Brain--Lia Turner

            An issue that is very prominent in today's society is the increasing amount of cases of degenerative brain disorders. As the bulk our population ages, we are seeing more and more people develop these conditions. As disorders like  Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease become more prominent, the push for a cure, or even understanding the cause, is becoming more and more critical. The stress on the health care system is steadily increasing, as is the demand for personal assistance. A very important trend that relates to this issue  is the link between these disorders and neurotoxins. In our western culture, we enjoy our MacDonald's and Diet Cokes, but we are not paying attention to the effect they really have on us. These "delicious" foods contain toxic chemicals that are effecting our brain. This issue is not about eating healthy, it is about eating safe.

            Disorders like Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease are disorders that are becoming more and more prominent in today's society. These disorders are all caused by the degeneration of brain cells. The increase in cases of both these disorders is alarming. The Alzheimer's Society of Toronto estimates that over 500,000 Canadians suffer from Alzheimer's Disease. What's even more frightening, however that in the last five years alone, 50% more Canadians are dealing with Alzheimer's and within one generation, the amount of people with Alzheimer's will double. Although genetics play a role in the disease, only five to seven per cent of people diagnosed have the inherited form of Alzheimer's disease. So where are the other ninety-three to ninety five percent coming from? Alzheimer's is known to appear in patients that have a chemical imbalance in their brain. Let's take a look at another degenerative disease. Parkinson's disease is another disorder that is under the degenerative category that effects an alarming number of Canadians. In Canada, there are upwards of 100,000 people living with Parkinson' disease in 2013. This number is expected to double by 2016. Although the cause of Parkinson's disease is unknown, it is known that symptoms start to appear when there is a dopamine deficiency in the brain. These chemical imbalances and dopamine deficiencies point straight in the direction of neurotoxins.

             The term Neurotoxin is used to describe any toxic chemical that effects the nervous system. Surprisingly, most of the toxins that effect us today are found in our food. The most common neurotoxins that we find in our food are aspartame, monosodium glutamate, sucralose (also known as Splenda), mercury, fluoride, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate and yeast extract. All of these neurotoxins are found in food. A consistent intake of these chemicals over a long period of time is what causes chemical imbalance in the brain. Toxins like aspartame and sucralose are most commonly found in sugar free food. These types of food are no more healthy for you than the food containing sugar, as the aspartame or sucralose has a worse effect on the brain than the sugar does on the body. Chemicals like monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed vegetable protien, sodium caseinate and yeast extract are most commonly found in chips, french fries and even baby food. Mercury and calcium caseniate are often found in processed or canned fish. The chemicals described above interact with nerve cells by over stimulating them to death or interrupting their communication process. This process is harmful to nerve cells because it can fry them or reduce their functions.

            Many people turn a blind eye to this information because they truly enjoy their fast food dinners or their sugar free gum. However, this issue is no longer about believing that these chemicals can harm your brain, it is about  taking actions to help decrease your chances of harming your brain to the point of Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. The health food industry may seem like a hoax, but there are many things you can do to improve your chances of staying healthy without even stepping into a health food store. The process only requires you to be educated and to make responsible choices. It is important to read the label on the food that you buy. This is not difficult to spot the toxins that are in your food, as food companies are required to list all the ingredients on the food packaging. Eating healthy will not eliminate your chances of developing degenerative diseases, but it will significantly help.  The aging population did not know about the effects that these chemicals would have on the brain, so they did not have the opportunity to do things to help themselves. Nonetheless, our generation does, and we do not want to prove the projections made about our generation come true.


BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 

This article gave me a list of the major chemicals that I should be focusing on. This article also helped me to find other online resources that were related to each toxin.

            Chang, P. (2010, 05 07). Ten neurotoxins you should avoid. Retrieved from             http://energyfanatics.com/2010/05/02/ten-neurotoxins-you-should-avoid/

This article gave me a more in depth look at how mercury affects the brain cells.

            Chang , P. (2011, Sept. 21). How mercury destroys the brain. Retrieved from             http://energyfanatics.com/2010/09/21/how-mercury-destroys-the-brain/

This web page was vital for understanding how to avoid neurotoxins.

            Biofeedback Learning. (2012, Dec. 09). protect your brain from neurotoxins. Retrieved     from http://www.biofeedbacklearning.com/excitotoxins.htm

The following web page gives me a look at neurotoxicity from the angle of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders.

            NIND. (2009, Feb 07). Neurotoxiscity information page. Retrieved from             http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/neurotoxicity/neurotoxicity.htm

The page below gave me a more detailed look at Parkinson's disease (one of the two diseases I will be referencing in my article.)

            Medicine Plus. (2013, May 29). Parkinson's disease information. Retrieved from             http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/parkinsonsdisease.html

The web page cited below gave me important statistics on Alzheimer's Disease to add to my blog entry.

            Alzheimer's Society of Toronto. (2013). What the numbers say. Retrieved from             http://www.alzheimertoronto.org/ad_Statistics.htm

The web page below outlines the frequently asked questions about Parkinsons Disease

            Parkinson Society of Canada. (2013). Frequently asked questions. Retrieved from             http://www.parkinsonsociety.ca/frequently-asked-questions.html

 

Brain Facts.org is a resource filled page with different pieces of information on both Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease.

            Brain Facts. (2013). Degenerative disorders. Retrieved from           http://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-disorders/degenerative-disorders/

This web page is filled with information on alternative treatment options for Parkinson's

            Parkinsons.org. (2010). Parkinson's disease alternative medicine. Retrieved from             http://www.parkinsons.org/parkinsons-alternative-medicine.html

This web page is filled with information on alternative treatment options for Alzheimer's Disease.

            alz.org. (2013). Alternative medicine. Retrieved from             http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_alternative_treatments.asp

 

LIAM MCCLEMENT--> CANADA AND US WATER

-Canada and United States Water-

~Friend Or Foe?~

 As many people already know, Canada and the United States are two of the closest nations on planet earth, sharing 8,891 km of maritime shores, coasts, and the great lakes. The two countries also share another 2,475 km because of Alaska. Because they are so close together, and have similar cultures, Canada and the U.S. Are known as “Sister” countries, because of the agreements made between the two of free trade and other negotiations.

 Because of the free trade agreement made between Canada and the States in 1987, there isn’t much of Canada that isn’t shared with them. For instance, Canada is the United States number one supplier of crude oil. This would be because Canada is rich in crude oil with our oil sands, but because of the free trade agreement made between the two countries, it also give the U.S. Access to our oil. Not only do they use our resources, but they take advantage of them as well. Canada is one of the richest of not the single richest county in water. This would be due to our great lakes. Now the great lakes do not all belong to Canada. In fact, the only great lake that is 100% not Canadian and on American soil is Lake Michigan. It is next to impossible to support a country with the necessary amounts of water that they need with one lake, so most of the Unites States water comes from Canada.

 It’s not that Americans are stealing our water, it is just they are believed to be taking advantage of the Canadian water supply. Not only is the average American about 10-15 people in a third world country, but the amount of water they consume doesn’t come anywhere close to how much they have for themselves. This is because the Unites States has been going through a drought since before the 1900s, but they have yet to come out of it. Generally, a drought is caused by lack of moisture in the atmosphere. Water vapour can be used from the atmosphere by a number of different things; over farming, excessive irrigation, deforestation, and any other way that Americans have depleted there resources and put pollutants back into the air.

 The picture above shown is the current condition of the United States. As you can see, the Southern states are affected much more by the drought then Northern United States. The closer you go up the map to Canada, the less drought that shows up. This would be because of our water supply, keeping a water -filled atmosphere, but also because we don’t have nearly as much Resource extraction going on which send all of those pollutants into the air.

 On the other hand of this argumentative issue, United States provides much support for Canada in return. Maybe not in absolute necessities like water, but in other things such as agriculture, technological advances and other important things like security. It may not seem as important as water itself, but with such a global issue like water, America will provide much protection is anything were to go wrong for Canada. Being one of the largest and most technologically advanced countries, if it ever came down to war as it has before, the Unites States will make a great Allie for protection. It will also not be surprising if war arises out of this conflict. If wars are fought over oil and land, what is going to happen with the fight over survival? Because all living things need water and without it, everything will be no more...

 Because this issue has two sides to it, i wanna know your opinion!

Do you think that Canada should keep on sharing it's water with Americans and continue with our current trade? Or should Canadians be much more cautious as to how much water we are giving away and to who...

COMMENT IN THE BLOG BELOW!!

WRITTEN BY LIAM MCCLEMENT

Summative Bibliography

LIAM MCCLEMENT

Reardon, S., & Hodson, H. (2013). Water wars loom as US runs dry. New Scientist, 217(2904), 8.

 Touches on the drought that has been going on in the U.S. and how issues will arise between states and municipalities.

Wikipedia. (2013, June 1). Drought in the united states.

Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drought_in_the_United_States

 Due to lack of snow, not enough melt water was absorbed into the soil, causing drought in the United States.

Wikipedia. (2013, May 19). 2012-2013 north american droubt. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_North_American_drought

 Continuation of the 2011-2012 drought

Government Of Canada. (2012, Dec 11). Shared waters: Canada-united states. Retrieved from http://www.ec.gc.ca/eau-water/default.asp?lang=En&n=B947BAA8-1

→ touches on the trans-boundaries of waterways between Canada and the United States. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%E2%80%93United_States_Free_Trade_Agreement

--> Free Trade agreement made between Canada and the U.S. In 1987.

http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/us-eu.aspx?lang=eng

--> Trade negotiations between Canada and the United States.

Thea- The Democratic Republic of Congo Genocide

The Democratic Republic of Congo

The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been considered one of the world’s bloodiest since World War 2. It has killed approximately 5.4 million people since 1996. The violence was sparked during and after the first and second Congo wars, and has become so devastating it is known as the “African World War.”

What has caused all the Casualties?

The conflict in the Congo has resulted in 5,400,000 deaths and an estimated of 45,000 more deaths each month. Civilians in the area are subjected to widespread disease and famine, poverty, rape, warfare, violence, ect. They are either being directly impacted by the rebels or are being indirectly impacted by the countries instability.

 Reasons for the Genocide: Political Instability and the Rich-Resourced Land.

Political Instability: A major contributor to the genocide occurring in the Congo is the Rwandan genocide which took place in 1994. During the Rwandan genocide nearly two million Hutu refugees fled to neighbouring countries including the Congo, which lies right across the Rwandan border. As the Tutsis continued to slaughter the Hutu, the Hutu had no choice but to flee for their safety.  Many believe that the presence of these refugees led to the first Congo war, or at least was a major influence in the spark of it in 1996. As the Rwandan-Ugandan rebels crossed into the Congo, they looked to control the land of Kivu. They were ordered out a threat of death, which led to the formation of multiple violent groups who had been forming in the area. Kabila, leader of a rebel alliance and opponent of Mobutu raised the rebel powers and eventually exiled Mobutu, thus taking power of the country. It was then that the country was named the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In 1998 the Second Congo War began. The Rwandan and Ugandan rebels were still present in Kivu and controlled the resource trade in the area. Kabila wanted them out, so with his army took on violent acts against them. Peace talks were encouraged and thousands of UN peacekeepers were put in place, but they failed to stop the rebel’s crimes. The war was aimed at overthrowing Kabila and gaining or maintaining territory control. This was only achieved when a transitional government was put in place at the end of the war and rebel leaders were given government power. In addition, tensions continued on the Congo-Rwandan border, as the Tutsis still felt threatened by the Hutu rebels.  

The Rich-Resourced Land: On the surface the roots of the Congo war are often attributed to ethnic tensions. Ethnic tensions and hatred certainly drive and whip into frenzy the various armies and guerrilla groups that perpetrate the violence. Behind the scenes however much of the causes of the conflicts are directly related to the Congo’s vast wealth of natural resources. The Congo is a country of indescribable beauty. Its earth is a rich black volcanic soil and its climate is mild and perfectly suited to agriculture. More importantly, its hills and forests contain some of the world’s largest deposits of timber, petroleum, diamonds, gold, silver, tin, copper, zinc, cobalt and a little known mineral known as coltan which is a vital components in every cell phone on the planet. Indeed, ever since under Belgian colonization, the discovery of the vulcanization process of rubber lead to huge worldwide demand for rubber, people have been dying in the Congo by the millions. Today 1000-2000 thousand people continue to die per day.

Much of the causes of the conflicts are directly related to the Congo’s vast wealth of natural resources. Its hills and forests contain some of the world’s largest deposits of timber, petroleum, diamonds, gold, silver, tin, copper, zinc, cobalt and a little known mineral known as coltan which is a vital components in every cell phone on the planet. The Congo is worth millions, which leads to a variety of civil wars and the involvement of multiple foreign armies and investors. Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad, Libya and Sudan, among others, all have influenced the conflict going on in the Congo. As well, there is more international countries which trade with the Congo and look to exploit its resources. The fight over the land started from a very long time ago and continues today, it has put the country into shambles and left it completely unstable.

 Solutions: What is being done to stop the Genocide?

The conflict in the Congo has finally begun to slow as the central government has reasserted control and the country looks to find peace. There is still issues between the Hutu and Tutsi conflict groups but the Rwandan and Congo forces have banned together to stop this.

Since 1999 the UN’s peace keeping mission has been in the Congo and has been trying to control the area. It looks to protect the civilians and also help reconstruct the country which has gone through a lot of infrastructure damage. With almost 20,000 people in the Congo, it has become one of the biggest peace keeping operations in the world. They have organized military operations and took on a key role when organizing democratic elections in the Congo. Although even with all their presence, the rebels continue to violently kill and exploit the lands resources. Today, the Congo government states it is capable of maintaining the law and wants the United Nations force to leave their country.

In addition to the UN, campaign groups like the Human Rights Watch also try to take action. They spread the word, raise money, and look for solutions to stop the violence.

By: Thea Wurtele

Vanessa- Aboriginal Women Inequality

   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.