The traumatic experiences of the stolen generation have demonstrated that the removal of Indigenous children from their families has caused ongoing psychological suffering. McGlade, Hannah, Our Greatest Challenge (Aboriginal Studies Press, 2012) provides a theoretical and practical perspective on the issues and concerns of Aboriginal Child abuse. The author considers her very own encounters from child abuse and claims that the criminal justice system is racist and paternalistic. In support of her claims, she delivers a deep analysis of the legal systems response to sexual assault, claiming that Indigenous Aboriginal women were excluded from society during the time of white politics, control, and violence. McGlade supports her arguments through …show more content…
Sexual abuse has resulted to medical conditions, psychological, emotional, behavioural, and spiritual problems. Thomas, C. (2017). Sexual Assault: Issues for Aboriginal Women. pp.1-9. Thomas, C., an Aboriginal Women Policy Coordinator, reflects on a case in the late 1980s. From an Indigenous Women’s statement, she accuses several off-duty police officers of raping her in prison. However, her claims were not considered because she had no evidence. This can be viewed as an act of corruption, as the criminal justice system failed to give the individual a fair trial. Indigenous Women from the late 1980’s claim that the police took their time to respond to calls of sexual assault, access to police stations were not always open, an officer’s attitude determined whether the call is important and if it’s worth their time. Indigenous Women accused police officers for having sexist and racist views which affected their court cases. There was no effort into investigating sexual assault and rape of Indigenous Women and this demonstrated how indigenous Women became inferior in a European …show more content…
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (include reference) reports that from the early 1980s there have been several deaths of Indigenous people in prison and police custody. Findings revealed that the over representation of Indigenous individuals in custody was a result of Indigenous deaths in custody. Commissioner Wootten, claimed that the deaths of these victims could have been avoidable in a fair justice system. He asserts that most victims were innocent and should not have been in custody. Most Indigenous people in custody were the stolen children. Those taken away from their families as a child were more likely to be arrested. The criminal justice system need to take into consideration that some individuals are still traumatized, and are victims of domestic abuse Antoinette Braybrook, a chief executive of Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services, has been fighting the family violence for more than 15 years. Reports indicate that up to 30 to 40% of women failed to seek help because they do not feel comfortable to speak out. Indigenous women are 34 times more likely to be hospitalized and 10 times to be killed because of domestic violence. In response to these situations, the Federal Government has implemented a National Plan to help reduce violence against Indigenous Women and Children. The social and economic situation of Indigenous people often
The over-representation of Aboriginal children in the Canadian Child Welfare system is a growing and multifaceted issue rooted in a pervasive history of racism and colonization in Canada. Residential schools were established with the intent to force assimilation of Aboriginal people in Canada into European-Canadian society (Reimer, 2010, p. 22). Many Aboriginal children’s lives have been changed adversely by the development of residential schools, even for those who did not attend them. It is estimated that Aboriginal children “are 6-8 times more likely to be placed in foster care than non-Aboriginal children (Saskatchewan Child Welfare Review Panel, 2010, p. 2).” Reports have also indicated that First Nations registered Indian children make up the largest proportion of Aboriginal children entering child welfare care across Canada (Saskatchewan Child Welfare Review Panel, p. 2). Consequently, this has negatively impacted Aboriginal communities experience of and relationship with child welfare services across the country. It is visible that the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the child welfare system in Canada lies in the impact of the Canadian policy for Indian residential schools, which will be described throughout this paper.
Aboriginal female inmates are not treated fairly since there is stigmatization attached to them, this becomes a challenge to the offender since they may not receive equal treatment (Debra Parkes & Kim Pate, 2008). Aboriginal female inmates are also seen as deserving for victimization since they are dependent on drugs (Dell & Kilty, 2012). The marginalization Aboriginal women face can also determine their reintegration and quality of program.
Despite the decreasing inequalities between men and women in both private and public spheres, aboriginal women continue to be oppressed and discriminated against in both. Aboriginal people in Canada are the indigenous group of people that were residing in Canada prior to the European colonization. The term First Nations, Indian and indigenous are used interchangeably when referring to aboriginal people. Prior to the colonization, aboriginal communities used to be matrilineal and the power between men and women were equally balanced. When the European came in contact with the aboriginal, there came a shift in gender role and power control leading towards discrimination against the women. As a consequence of the colonization, the aboriginal women are a dominant group that are constantly subordinated and ignored by the government system of Canada. Thus today, aboriginal women experiences double jeopardy as they belong to more than one disadvantaged group i.e. being women and belonging to aboriginal group. In contemporary world, there are not much of a difference between Aboriginal people and the other minority groups as they face the similar challenges such as gender discrimination, victimization, and experiences injustice towards them. Although aboriginal people are not considered as visible minorities, this population continues to struggle for their existence like any other visible minorities group. Although both aboriginal men and women are being discriminated in our society, the women tends to experience more discrimination in public and private sphere and are constantly the targeted for violence, abuse and are victimized. In addition, many of the problems and violence faced by aborigin...
Today, Native American women continue to be victimized and remain vulnerable targets within, their communities, reservations, tribal law enforcement agencies, and federal law enforcement agencies. In order to restore peace and justice for Native women we first need to have critical and substantive discussion regarding all aspects of sexual assault on r...
The system in place is completely unsuitable and unhelpful for Native people and it shows just how indifferent Canada is to First Nations peoples’ well-being. Zimmerman explains in his article “Outcomes” that it is a well-known fact that Aboriginal people are overrepresented in the prison system (1992). There are so many reasons why this is so, and the majority of those reasons are because of the terrible way that Canada has interacted with them. They are isolated in their reserves, they are haunted by their residential school experiences, leading to alcoholism, domestic violence and neglect, and they face discrimination and a lack of social support from the government. Once an Aboriginal person finds themselves in the clutches of the prison system, the indifference begins. Canada’s criminal justice system is indifferent to an Aboriginal person’s cultural, spiritual, and individual needs that separate them from the average convicted person (Zimmerman, 1992). The criminal justice system ignores the unique idea of justice and restoration that First Nations peoples have, making it extremely irrelevant and unhelpful for them. First Nations peoples have linguistic and cultural barriers and a lack of counsel and understanding of the criminal processes and, therefore, have misguided rulings and inaccurate proceedings. Canada has not provided the cultural training and
Residential schools, systemic-racism, and the repression of Aboriginal heritage and tradition have resulted in a deeply engrained distrust among aboriginals towards the government. Over the last few decades the Canadian government has tried through a variety of initiatives and policies to reconcile with Aboriginal communities. Court victories and greater constitutional recognition of Aboriginal peoples suggest that the Canadian government has recognized their past mistreatment of Aboriginals and have taken steps towards reconciliation. Even with a federal policy geared towards the recognition of past wrong-doings, Aboriginal court victori...
A large piece of the issue is the constitutional prejudice of those with the power and authority to make decisions in the criminal justice system. Any way discrimination is defined it is obvious for anyone to see that first nations people have victims of of it. Aboriginals have been victims of both unintended discrimination as well as openly hostile discrimination both which is rooted in police law.
The story of our heroes begins early one Saturday morning. A trio of brave high school students set out on a quest for absolutely nothing. The leader of the troop was Lady Amber of Cuzzart; she was followed closely by Lady Hannah the Brave, Sir Noah the Not-Quite-As-Brave-As-Lady-Hannah, and the aptly named Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Essay. Together they set forth to brave the wretched landscape of a local renaissance festival, but what they didn’t know was that there was so much more in store for them.
“Bill C-41 has provided adequate legal text to inspire legal activism that allows for systemic factors such as gendered conditions of endangerment, to be presented by defense lawyers in the conduct of a case before a sentencing judge and to argue against the imprisonment of Aboriginal women” (Balfour, 2012). Not only crimes committed by Aboriginal women are ending up as indeterminate sentences, but also punishment is given inside the prisons through other inmates and prison guards. “Aboriginal communities already struggling with social problems of poverty, violence, and housing shortages cannot take on the burden of programming and supervision required for conditional sentences” (Anderson, 1999). Racism and discrimination against Aboriginal people have been pervasive in Canadian history. They have been used and mistreated over and over and due to that kind of ill treatment to their ancestors, the effects can still be seen on their future generations. To have sentencing law reforms is insufficient strategies to address the incarceration spiral of Aboriginal women when the conditions of their lives are contoured by legacies of trauma and
In this article Charlton describes the inhuman attack committed on a homeless Aboriginal woman on the streets of Prince Albert. The attacker left Marlene Bird, 47; severely cut on the face, and her body so badly burnt that her legs had to be amputated. She is facing countless surgeries to correct these horrific hate crimes that were executed on her. He first notes that the police have a surveillance video and were examining it to see any further evidence “happens in a secluded area, like where this occurred, (it) makes it a little more difficult, but we’re doing our best to develop a timeline” (Charlton, 2014, para. 4). Charlton is also addressing the issues of past history of Residential School System, and that Bird fell into some difficulties with addictions, but never became a resentful person. Even receiving a settlement from the government she only bought a trailer for herself and gave the rest away to which she felt less fortunate than her “she opted to give the money away to help others in need” (Charlton, 2014, para. 10). Finally, he concludes with the illustration of Bird at a march for peace downtown Prince Albert, she is a Residential School Survivor “children were denied their language, spiritual rituals and, more importantly, access to their families. Aboriginal children were often subjected to emotional, physical and sexual
Between the years of 1909-1969, children of Australian Indigenous families were being removed by force and sent to dormitories away from their old life. This tragic event in Australia’s history is known as the Stolen Generations. Perhaps one of the cruellest, inhumane, and unjust pages in the history books, the Stolen Generations caused tremendous pain. The stolen children were erased of their culture, beliefs, language, and traditions. But despite of the fact this black mark on Australia’s history, it taught a valuable lesson which led to changes in politics, the social norms, and opinions.
Robert van Krieken 1999, The 'stolen generations' and cultural genocide: the forced removal of Australian Indigenous children from their families and its implications for the sociology of childhood, viewed 14 may 2014, < http://www-personal.usyd.edu.au/~robertvk/papers/gen2.htm>
Even though slavery was different among Aboriginal people, Aboriginal together with African- Americans faced racial discrimination and violence. Most of the harms against Aboriginal peoples in Australia and North America relied on the law of legitimacy. Most harm aimed at destroying indigenous cultures. Cunneen (2005) acknowledges that cultural harms included issues like; colonial laws, denial of basic citizenship rights, and forced the removal of children. Inquiry indicated that 10% of Indigenous children were removed from their homes under state sanctioned policies in Australia from 1910 to 1970. The Indigenous children were not cared the same way as non-indigenous children. Racial discrimination thus provides a good reason for
Peter Read brought the past history of Aboriginal children, who had been removed from their families, to the attention of many in 1980 in an essay “The Stolen Generations”. Until Read’s essay was published Aboriginal people rarely mentioned the “stolen generations” and the events were mostly unknown by white Australians. (Read 1981, 2). As Aboriginals began to tell their stories of separation, it was noted that there were significant issues for those who had been effected by the removals ad this led to the National enquiry by the Human rights and Equals Opportunities Commission 1997. (Commission, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities 1997). Australians were astounded at the narratives that came from the report, they were hearing a history of Australia’s past they hardly recognized and were shocked at the then Governments “cold hearted” response. (Bond 200...
This papers focus is based on the historical events that have being experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during colonisation. The most traumatising event experienced was the forced removal of Aboriginal children which is also referred to as the Stolen Generations. Given the distressing history the impact of the laws and policies on Indigenous Australians has made it difficult for them to trust government services or White Australians.