Violence Against Indigenous Women: A Canadian Perspective

This essay examines the pervasive issue of violence against indigenous women in Canada, focusing on the detrimental effects of globalization and the historical context of colonization. The paper highlights the marginalization faced by indigenous women, particularly the Inuit population in Montreal, who are disproportionately affected by social and political injustices. It delves into the role of colonization in perpetuating systemic violence and the Canadian government's assimilation policies. The essay discusses the inaction of the government regarding missing and murdered indigenous women and the impact of racial discrimination. The essay also references reports from organizations like the Native Women’s Association of Canada and BBC News, emphasizing the need for effective prevention programs and action plans to address this critical issue, and how globalization has made these women vulnerable to violence.

Running head: VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS WOMEN: EFFECTS OF
GLOBALIZATION
Violence Against Indigenous Women: Effects of Globalization
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS WOMEN: EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION
The indigenous people in Canada have been among the most marginalized in the
country. Canada is a country famous for treating its people as well as women well. But for
the indigenous women in Canada, especially the low income Inuit group, the policy failure
and the impacts of colonialism is a nightmare. The Inuit constitute 10% of Montreal’s
population and the women much lesser, this makes them extremely vulnerable to social and
political injustice (Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women In British Columbia, Canada
2014). Colonization has been the cause of all the oppression that this population has faced
and is still suffering. This essay delves deeper into the situation of the indigenous Inuit
women and analyzes the impact of colonization on them.
The recent news and incidents of missing and murdered children of Canada and the
subsequent inaction of the government has raised concern both nationally and internationally.
Most of the Inuit population in the city of Montreal is homeless and are struggling for their
basic necessities in life (Scalise 2018). These kinds of incidents has been making the
headlines for years and the government has not shown much initiative in preparing any
statistics or providing any kind of support to the people who are suffering (Canada: Violence
Against Indigenous Women And Girls 2017). The deaths and missing indigenous women tells
the story of long drawn ignorance and maltreatment that they have faced through their
history. The greatest cause of their suffering has been colonization. Colonization of Canadian
indigenous started the systematic violence against the indigenous women.
The only evidence of data collection is done by Native Women’s Association of
Canada (NWAC), which records at least 582 cases of missing and murder among the
indigenous women in the last 30 years which also includes statistics of Montreal. Other
organizations have claimed that the number could be as high as 824 which truly is a concern
for government. Despite that many cases, the reaction of the government has been slow and
there has no policy that helps these indigenous people and provide them any protection. The

2VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS WOMEN: EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION
aboriginal women in this way have shared a double burden of discrimination that are neither
shared by non-indigenous population nor by indigenous men (Hanson 2020).
Due to globalization and modernization, the Canadian government has taken
assimilation policy towards the Canadian indigenous that also affected the low income Inuit
population in Montreal. They have created policies that aim to include the Canadian
aboriginals into the mainstream of the society. These policies have made them vulnerable as
it has taken away their culture and natural habitat making exposing them to the violence of
the modern society once again (LeBlanc 2019). Globalization has forced the government to
introduce policies that will increase the participation of the indigenous population and
especially the empowerment of women. In doing so the government have overlooked the
essential aspects of their [protection from the racial violence and intersectional violence.
In a recent news published in BBC, it was claimed that the race based genocide
against women in Canada has been the subject of enquiry for many years and the report finds
that the state has played a complacent role in it (BBC News 2019). The report too, blames the
deep rooted colonial history and inaction of the state. The problem that lies in Montreal is
that the majority population are uneducated about the colonial history and the oppressions
that these people faced. The hatred that the colonialists had for the indigenous people are still
reflected through the actions of the majority. The innumerable deaths and missing reports are
indicative of that.
The killing of the indigenous people started with the residential schools that created a
never ending circle for the indigenous women. The lack of resources provided to the
indigenous community and lack of redressal of the perpetual violence has created a
psychologically impoverished population that are still facing the violence of racial hatred and
domestic violence. The Canadian society, including Montreal, still has racialism ingrained

3VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS WOMEN: EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION
into it and the denial of women protection and justice against such violence speaks for that
naturally. Though, after several demands, Canada has initiated a prevention program for
gender based violence in 2017, up till today they do not have any action plan that would
ensure the effectiveness of the intervention (Landriault 2017).
From the above discussion, it becomes clear that the globalization and developmental
demands of globalization has forced the Canadian government to take certain measures that
are meant to address the issues that are pervading the indigenous population of Canada. The
history of colonization started the systematic violence that still continues and women face the
intersectional violence as well. After decades of struggle the Canadian government has
finally taken initiative through they lack proper planning and action setting that would
actually be effective in controlling the murder and missing women of the aboriginal
population.

4VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS WOMEN: EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION
References
BBC News. "Canada 'Complicit In Race-Based Genocide'". BBC News. (2019).
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48503545.
Canada: Violence Against Indigenous Women And Girls. Pdf. British Columbia: UN
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. (2017)
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CERD/Shared%20Documents/CAN/
INT_CERD_NGO_CAN_28174_E.pdf.
Hanson, Erin. "Marginalization Of Aboriginal Women". Indigenousfoundations.Arts.Ubc.Ca.
(2020).
https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/marginalization_of_aboriginal_women/.
Landriault, Mathieu. "Globalization as discursive resource legitimating sovereignty: The case
of the Canadian Arctic." Cogent Social Sciences 3, no. 1 (2017): 1401441.
LeBlanc, Matthieu. "Language Minorities in a Globalized Economy: The Case of
Professional Translation in Canada." In The Palgrave Handbook of Minority
Languages and Communities, pp. 333-354. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2019.
Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women In British Columbia, Canada. Pdf. INTER-
AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS. (2014).
https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/Indigenous-Women-BC-Canada-en.pdf.
Scalise, Samantha. 2018. "Inside Inuit Homelessness In Montreal". This Magazine.
https://this.org/2018/07/23/inside-inuit-homelessness-in-montreal/.