"systemic patterns of violence" and the Highway of Tears

Aboriginal women face systemic patterns of violence

ADRIAN TURCATO
Published on March 12, 2011

McGill Daily

Last Thursday the Aboriginal Law Association of McGill hosted the panel discussion, Stolen Sisters, addressing issues of violence and discrimination that Aboriginal women continue to face within Canadian society.

The discussion was a part of the event: “13 Days to Honour Aboriginal Women,” which aims to celebrate Aboriginal women, as well as raise awareness about missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

Official statistics estimate that since the 1980s, approximately 520 Aboriginal women have been murdered or gone missing.

Walk4Justice, a women’s grass roots activist organization founded by Gladys Ridek and Bernie Williams Poitras, estimate that the actual number is almost 4,000.

Both Ridek and Poitras spoke candidly at the panel discussion about the prejudice that Aboriginal women face.

“You are a ****ing squaw. What have you done for our community? What have you contributed to Canada?” said Poitras, with reference to personal experiences.

“This is how Indian women are treated,” she stated.

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Poor women targets of violence in Canada, Mexico

"If another aboriginal woman goes missing, it's OK because they're aboriginal and that (attitude) is quite disturbing," Garcia said.

"My hope is to create awareness because a lot of people don't know that all this violence against women is happening in Mexico and that it's also happening in Canada. There are a lot of parallels. It's the same crime and it's two different countries," she said.

In Mexico, women are the target of violence because they're poor, said Garcia, 21, a fourth-year anthropology student at the U of L. She was born in Mexico City and moved to Canada with her family 10 years ago.

"Poor women are the ones that authorities don't pay attention to. They're almost seen or looked at as being worthless. That's the whole mentality: they don't matter, so if they go missing, it's OK because they're poor and they're really not contributing to society," she said.

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