For this blog I wanted to bring forth a significant issue that impacts Indigenous people, specifically Indigenous women within Canada. I thought that bringing forward the issue of the 600+ Missing and Murdered Indigenous women within this country would be important because it continues to be a tragic and unforgettable issue that is an endemic within our country. I wanted to talk about specifically how the neo-conservative government has negatively influenced the social policy regarding the Human Rights of Indigenous women within Canada. This is an issue that in my eyes is being pushed aside by the neo-conservative government.
According to Mullaly (2007) “Social Justice, to neo-conservatives, is based on the belief in the individual responsibility. That is, every individual has a responsibility to look after him or herself” (pp. 78). I personally do not see the issue of the 600+ Indigenous women who have gone missing and have been killed going away anytime soon, and more importantly without the recognition and help in the form of funding from the government. In my opinion there needs to be more social programming in the form of education and prevention for Indigenous women who are targeted. The neo-conservative government promotes individuality but in all honesty responsibility cannot only be on the individual it has to be communal and national because it affects communities and our nation.
The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NAWC): Sisters in Spirit was developed in 2005, to act as a research, education, and policy initiative that was created by Indigenous women for Indigenous human rights (NWAC, 2011). In 2010 the conservative government released their plans to defund the Sisters in Spirit database which has helped indigenous women, families and has assisted police to assist in finding those who have gone missing or who have been killed as justice for these women and their families. To have it defunded is a serious mistake, to waste the resources and relationships developed over the years seems to be a foolish decision made on the governments’ part.
Although there were many conservative party individuals that believed this database that was created by the Native Women’s Association of Canada was and is important and should be kept going, the majority of the government opposed. The overall outcome was that it was to be defunded and the organization was not to use government monies to fund projects using the name Sisters in Spirit or for upkeep of their database (APTN National News, 2010).
What does this mean for the human rights of Indigenous women and the justice families deserve?
Mullaly states “Neo-conservatives are highly skeptical of attempts to improve life through social policy and social intervention” (pp. 78), this was evident in the Conservative MP Shelly Glovers' statement regarding the defunding of Sisters in Spirit. Glover Stated “Don’t mix apples and oranges. That project was finished, now we're working with them to pursue other projects." (Barrera, 2010). The so called “other project” that Mrs. Glover is speaking of is the RCMP database that will be launched in 2013. Barrera (2010) states this project as “the creation of a new police support centre for missing persons, along with promised amendments to the Criminal Code…”.
First question I have is 2013? It is 2011, until then what are Indigenous women and families supposed to do until then, and in all reality will it be based on the data the Native Women’s Association of Canada developed specifically for Indigenous women? I don’t think so!
This new RCMP database won’t solely be targeted to Indigenous people or specifically women, but will base its data on Canada as a whole, which for some critiques say puts the power and money into the laps of the RCMP (Barrera, 2010). I find this problematic, will this significant issue of violence against Indigenous women be addressed in this country or will the numbers have to rise to 10,000 before social change occurs for Indigenous women? To be quite frank if the numbers were this high do you honestly think the government would do anything? In my honest opinion I don’t think they would, because they haven’t and they have taken away one of a few developments to help stop violence against Indigenous women. That’s individualism for you!
The issue of defunding an organization that has started to create social change in research, education, and policy for Indigenous women and families highlights the neo-conservative paradigm, which reinforces individual responsibility, and scepticism of improving life through social policy.
-Danielle
References
APTN National News. ( 2010, November 8). Native Women’s Association felt “betrayed”by Conservative Government. Retrived from http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2010/11/08/native-womens-association-betrayed-by-conservative-government/.
Barrera, J. & APTN National News (2010, November 4). Moon setting on Sisters in Spirit.Retrieved from http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2010/11/04/moon-setting-on-sisters-in-spirit/.
Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work (3rd ed.). Canada: Oxford University Press.
Native Women’s Association of Canada (2011). Sisters in Spirit. Retrieved from http://www.nwac.ca/programs/sisters-spirit.
Fantastic post! I agree 100 %. It's truly sad how something that was making such an impact had to be defunded. Like you said, by 2013 how high do you think the numbers will be then? They should have kept the funding until the new organization came into play. These are others lives we are talking about, this isn't something you just let pass by. I was wondering, how did you find out about this topic to blog on?
ReplyDelete-Jenn S
I had heard somewhere, probably from the Stolen Sisters campaigns, that an Indigenous woman is 10 times more likely to be taken advantages of, abused and/or murdered than a woman from another racial group. That's a VERY sad statistic if you ask me, and the Conservative ideology certainly doesn't lend well to ensuring protection for all people, never mind risk groups. Great post Danielle!
ReplyDelete~Shauna
Jenn,
ReplyDeleteI have been interested in this issue for the past couple of years and I have done a lot of research and different projects when I was finishing my BA.I wanted to incorporate this issue into my social work classes, and specifically this class because we are getting a chance to critique and let our voice be heard on any topic we choose, and these paradigms of government that influence policy. For me I wanted to write about this topic because it is an issue that has been 'pushed aside' for way to long, and the mere fact that through education people become more aware and understanding.
Shauna,
Yes I have done a lot of research on the stats and it is truly awful, and I have done a lot of research on how history (patriarchy, misogyny, and especially racism etc) influences why Indigenous women are targeted, and your right the conservative ideology quite frank dose not seem care about Indigenous women or Indigenous people all together I think it has to do with their individualistic views and how people need to be responsible for themselves, they don’t take into account historical and environmental influences.
-Danielle
I'm so glad you brought up this issue Danielle! The neoconservative government needs to stop playing 'blame the victim.' If the statistics show that aboriginal women are being targeted 10 times more frequently than women from all other racial groups, then obviously this is not an 'individual' problem. Policy needs to be created and enforced so that society knows this is unexeptable.
ReplyDelete-Julianna
Great post! This is a good isue to bring up with alot of insight. Many Aboriginal women are being targeted.This is communal problem not a indivdual problem.
ReplyDeleteLori
I had not heard about the defunding of Sisters in Spirit and it is quite ground shaking to realize how much they are trying to cover up and put on us as individuals in stead of taking responsability as supposed "leaders of our nation". This was supposed to be a democratic society, not a few predominately males in government deciding what we can or should be spending mostly OUR tax money on. Good job Danielle, you brought up a very good point.
ReplyDeleteBelinda
This issue will continue to be an issue for indigenous women. I can see in Winnipeg through rally’s and protests that social change is happening but it is a slow process and it is all happening at a grassroots level but I have hope that soon the conservative government will realize that indigenous human rights issues are just as pressing as economic issues within this country.
ReplyDelete-Danielle
I’m glad you blogged about this Danielle. It saddens me that funding was taken away for such an important issue facing First Nation communities. Aboriginal women are born with two strikes against them - being Aboriginal and being a woman. The problem is not going to go away, more needs to be done on behalf of governments to deal with this issue. Social workers need to be aware of the funding cuts, as this will dramatically have negative effects for First Nation communities and people. These cuts are just another step from dismantling Canada’s social safety net.
ReplyDeleteDara