QUEBEC NATIVE WOMEN INC.

March 4, 2010

QNW would like to comment on the Governor General’s speech from the Throne in hopes that clarifications may be made regarding important issues impacting Indigenous women and our communities. We are pleased to hear mention of the research project Sisters In Spirit but are concerned regarding the vagueness in her Excellency’s speech as to how the Government of Canada proposes to address the issue of murdered and missing Aboriginal women. The factors responsible for the flagrant abuse of Aboriginal women’s rights in Canadian society such as poverty, status or the lack thereof, violence in all its forms, etc, are all linked to the implementation of the archaic Indian Act.

The double discrimination of Aboriginal women can also be linked to a lack of political will motivated by an apathetic attitude to profoundly change the Indian Act.

QNW sincerely believes that the proposed amendment to the Indian status registration provisions (section 6) of the Indian Act in order to comply with the Court of Appeal of British Columbia’s decision in the Sharon McIvor case, will not adequately address the issue of gender equality for Indigenous women and men. The Court of Appeal’s decision continues to uphold the colonial institution of status being passed through the male line, while only granting Indigenous women partial rights on this issue. As well, with an April 6, 2010 deadline looming and the prorogation of Parliament, it is perhaps unrealistic for the government of Canada to believe that the legislation can be passed in less than a month.

Although QNW is encouraged by her Excellency’s statement that the Government of Canada will consider endorsing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we will remain vigilant and cautious until such time as there is a genuine demonstration by Canada to support and implement the Declaration. Our cautiousness is based upon Canada’s behavior in the last 3 years where it vigorously opposed the UNDRIP stating that it is contrary to Canada’s constitution and laws. International human rights Declarations are universally applicable upon their adoption by the United Nations. Suggesting that they must conform with national legislation shows a disregard for the international system.

We are concerned that Canada continues to engage in colonization against Indigenous peoples. Canada requires the surrendering of land rights in its land claims process threatening the very identity and well-being of future generations of Indigenous peoples. There also appears to be a lack of sincere reconciliation following the Residential School Apology of June 2008. The status quo remains as does inadequate funding formulas for Indigenous languages, education in particular special needs children, child welfare, amongst other mediocre funding formulas which purport to address serious needs of communities which in reality promote assimilation and perpetuate dysfunction.

On the topic of venture capital and foreign investments, QNW is extremely concerned regarding the statement that “Government will ensure that unnecessary regulation does not inhibit the growth of Canada’s uranium mining industry by unduly restricting foreign investment.” The health and well-being of many Indigenous communities have been threatened due to the lack of free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples on lands and resources that have not been ceded through the land claims process. Land rights and the self-determination of Indigenous peoples are constantly being undermined by these very activities that fail to adequately consult Indigenous peoples. Aboriginal and treaty rights of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada including the right to land are guaranteed under section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 but are consequently not respected or implemented when it comes to Canada’s quest for energy security and development.

In conclusion, while the Speech from the Throne was peppered with the appearance of good will, holistically speaking, there remains much to be desired in the content and details of the Speech from the Throne. Time will determine the sincerity of the Government of Canada in respecting the collective and individual human rights of Indigenous peoples. In the meantime, we remain hopeful and optimistic that justice will prevail and that the rule of law will indeed be respected.

Respectfully,

Ellen Gabriel

President

For more information contact: Aurelie Arnaud, Communications Officer Quebec Native Women (450) 632 0088. E-mail: communication@faq-qnw.org

OTTAWA, March 4 /CNW Telbec/ - The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is encouraged by the federal government’s pledge of 10 million dollars in funding over a period of two years, to address the disturbingly high number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada.

The federal budget noted the particular challenges faced by Aboriginal women in accessing the justice system. By addressing the vulnerability to violence experienced by Aboriginal women, the federal government made a firm commitment to take concrete actions to ensure that law enforcement and the justice system meet the needs of Aboriginal women and their families.

While the specific details pertaining to how this funding will be allocated are still unknown, NWAC is pleased to learn that the Harper Government has made the fundamental human rights of Aboriginal women a priority.

As NWAC president Jeannette Corbiere Lavell says “We are optimistic that this commitment will enable the Native Women’s Association of Canada’s Sisters In Spirit (SIS) initiative to continue to play a leadership role in addressing missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada, by working with the Department of Justice and all other stakeholders. The Sisters In Spirit initiative will continue with plans for building community strength and responsibility, working with the police and justice system to address access to justice and gaps in services, and working with service providers to understand the needs of Aboriginal families.”

Since 2005, NWAC has received funding from Status of Women Canada to identify root causes, trends and circumstances of violence that have led to disappearance and death of Aboriginal women and girls. To date, NWAC has worked to provide evidence of more than 520 missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada, as well as find opportunities to support families, engage communities, work with service providers, as well as the police and justice systems and in collaboration with Aboriginal organizations, human rights organizations, and the federal government to raise awareness and address violence, which leads to disappearance and death. The support of Minister Guergis (Status of Women) has been an important part of this success to date.

Yesterday’s Speech from the Throne and today’s Federal Budget also highlights the recognition by the federal government to take steps to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. “I’m pleased with this announcement. This is a positive step forward,” notes President Corbiere Lavell. “NWAC is committed to working with the federal government to address the fundamental human rights of Aboriginal women through important legislation relating to matrimonial real property and citizenship.”

For further information: Andrea Ruttan, M.A., Communications Advisor, Phone: (613) 656-3012, Mobile: (613) 295-2719, Email: aruttan@nwac.ca

A 16-year-old girl whose frozen body was found outside a childcare centre in a native community west of London will be buried Thursday.

Meanwhile, police continue to investigate how Sierra Phillips of Oneida First Nation ended up at the centre on Saturday.

Sources say she had been at a party Friday night and was dropped off near the child-care centre early Saturday.

Her body was found Saturday evening. Investigators were to review security camera videos to help piece together events.

Police have declined to release the cause of death, other than to confirm it was not a suicide but a “tragic set of circumstances.”

In a death notice in The Free Press, friends were to be received at 2225 Elm Ave. in Oneida Tuesday and Wednesday.

A funeral will be held Thursday from the residence starting at 11 a.m. with interment at Longhouse Cemetery in Oneida.

The loss comes one week after the death of another young person on an area native reserve.

Brendan Deleary, 15, killed himself Feb. 13. Soon after, there were reports he may have taken his life after being bullied repeatedly on school bus rides home to the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation outside London.

Our goal: Remember the women and girls who have gone missing or been murdered. There are 3000 of them. But for the purposes of TV cameras, our goals go beyond remembering. We want to pressure the government to continue funding NWAC’s Sisters in Spirit initiative. We want them to conduct a public investigation on top of that. We want them to say ” Yes, there is a serious problem here.”

The opening prayer was done by Cheryl Diabo of Kahnawake’s Mohawk Traditional Council, and speakers included Kate Rexe of NWAC, Bridget Tolley from Kitigan Zibi, whose mother Gladys Tolley was murdered by the Surete de Quebec in 2002, Kary Ann Deere of Projet Autochtones de Quebec, performance artist Chandra Melting Tallow, and Mi’kmaq writer and activist Dorothy Proctor from Nova Scotia who spoke about the disproportionately high levels of Indigenous women in prisons in Canada and how the majority of them have been the repeated victims of physical and sexual violence.

We closed with drumming and singing by Aboriginal women’s drum & singing group, Odaya, who had everybody form a circle, hold hands and sing. There were just enough people to fill the entire park with our circle. Beautiful.

CTV, Global TV, and CBC were present, along with journalists from UQAM and The Concordian.

People start to assemble at Berri Square

Kate Rexe from NWAC speaks

Marching up St. Laurent street, Bridget Tolley in the lead

Odaya

We form a circle

Rachel Alouki-Labbe

Jessica Yee

Janie Jamieson

As an accompanying event to Montreal’s first Annual Memorial March for Murdered and Missing Women, slated to happen this Sunday, February 14th, Missing justice organized a bilingual panel discussion on February 11th at the Cegep de Vieux Montreal, to discuss numerous issues connected to the larger problem of violence against Indigenous women.

Janie Jamieson, a Mohawk woman and land rights activist from Six Nations, Ontario, spoke courageously, for the first time in public, about her experiences losing her aunt Cynthia Jamieson, who was kidnapped, brutally raped and murdered. She also spoke about the resultant lack of media prioritization relative to another non-Native woman who was killed around the same time as her aunt. She criticized the Canadian media, calling them an appendage of the state, as CTV, who, happily, attended the event, filmed her closely. Jessica Yee later ‘joked’ that they better include what Janie said in their coverage of the event. Janie also talked about links between the struggles of Indigenous peoples in both North and South America, the oppressed relationship to the Crown that they share, and the consequent land rights fights and high levels of violence against women across the board as well.

Rachel Alouki-Labbe, an Abenaki woman and documentary filmmaker, showed a short clip from her film Desert de Croix, about the appalling femicide that is currently rocking Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and quoted Mexico’s ambassador to Canada’s infamous chauvinist comment, which blames the women themselves for the violence, because of the short skirts that they wear. She spoke of people finding women’s bones on the outskirts of town. Alouki-Labbe went further to compare the situation in Quebec to that of Juarez.

Jessica Yee is a self-described Indigenous feminist reproductive justice freedom fighter.  24 years old and Two-Spirited from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, Jessica is the founder and Executive Director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, a CanAmerica wide organization by youth and for youth. She spoke with passion and humour about the importance of culturally appropriate sex education for Native youth and the role it can play in preventing violence in native communities. “And I’m not talking about the STI fact sheet with the feather or the medicine wheel on it,” she said.

Mia Rabson, Winnipeg Free Press: Saturday, February 13, 2010

OTTAWA — Missing and murdered women in Canada will be remembered Sunday in memorial that marches across the country.
But the occasion may also become a memorial for a government-funded research project that put a spotlight on the hundreds of aboriginal women who have gone missing or were murdered in this country.
Federal funding for the Sisters in Spirit initiative of the Native Women’s Association of Canada runs out March 31, and the federal government has not given the group any indication whether its mandate will be extended.
“We haven’t heard anything,” said Sisters in Spirit director Kate Rexe. “The government is silent on the issue.”
With a grant of $5 million, Sisters in Spirit has spent the past five years compiling a database of more than 520 women who have disappeared or been killed over the past four decades.
The group has developed policies and programs it says are meant to help stop the cycle of violence.
Rexe said the agency is prepared to begin implementing policies and community programs aimed at three specific areas — the justice system, child welfare and poverty. But that’s been on hold for months because Ottawa won’t say if it plans to keep funding the work.
“It’s unbelievably frustrating,” Rexe said. “We have all the knowledge, the momentum. We can actually start to implement change, but we don’t even know if we can keep planning.”
A year ago, Status of Women Minister Helena Guergis said she was working on extending the project.
“I want you to know, I’ve already engaged in the process of what Sisters in Spirit Two would look like,” Guergis said at the Status of Women committee meeting Feb. 12, 2009.
But a spokeswoman for Guergis would not say Friday whether funding for Sisters in Spirit is forthcoming, and said in an e-mail Ottawa has asked NWAC to share its database with police.
”Research conducted by SIS thus far has been aimed at informing policy recommendations and identifying future directions. There are currently four provincial investigations ongoing which the RCMP is participating in. At Minister Guergis’ direction, NWAC will be consulting with the RCMP to cross reference their list with ongoing investigations,” wrote Emily Goucher.
She also said the Status of Women office spent $21 million since 2007 on 117 projects that address violence against women.
Rexe said she’s angry at a federal government that “has been spending like drunken sailors with their economic action plan and now with a huge deficit are talking about cuts.”
“We have been working for over a year to get a commitment to the life chances and access to justice for aboriginal women, girls and the families of victims, and we are still waiting.”
She said the Sisters office couldn’t even help organize this year’s Women’s Memorial March in Ottawa because staff are too busy wrapping up loose ends and searching for other funding. Eight cities across Canada are to hold marches on Valentine’s Day.
Sisters in Spirit has painted a rather bleak picture of aboriginal women’s lives. Rexe said Canadian crime statistics show that aboriginal identity is the strongest predictor of violent crime.
Aboriginal women are more than three times as likely as other Canadian women to experience violence and those between age 25 and 44 are five times more likely to die a violent death than non-aboriginal women in that age group.
Manitoba MP and Liberal status of women critic Anita Neville said she doesn’t understand why Ottawa won’t commit to extending Sisters.
“We have called for a renewal for funding to Sisters in Spirit and for a national investigation (into the missing and murdered women),” Neville said. “But money is tight, and I don’t know what (the government) will do.”

Jessica Yee is a woman of Chinese-Mohawk decent and was named the YMCA Young Woman of Distinction of 2009 for her activism and writing about Indigenous youth. She is the founder of Native Youth Sexual Health Network which works for healthy sexuality, cultural competency, youth empowerment, and reproductive justice for and by Indigenous youth. Presently, Jessica is working with the Sexual Health Education and Pleasure Project and is a youth coordinator for the Highway of Tears Initiative. Jessica will join us on February 11th to speak about her education efforts and work within First Nations communities.

Janie Jamieson is a Mohawk Six Nations Activist who has been very engaged and outspoken about Indigenous Land Rights. She is also the niece of Cythia Jamieson, one of the murdered/missing women. Janie will join us to share her personal experience of losing a loved one to these injustices and to share her thoughts about wisdom and her activism.

Rachel Alouki Labbe is an Abenki woman who grew up in a Kanesatake Mohawk community. Rachel is a film producer and director; she says that in her films, she strives to overcome prejudices and to convey the strength and beauty of First Peoples. With her interests stemming from the First Nation communities here in Quebec, she now does work with Indigenous people throughout the world. Rachel is the founder of Alouki Films and was the recipient of the prize for Telediversity in 2008. She recently released a documentary called ‘Desert de Croix’ which explores femicide in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Rachel will join us to show and speak about her recent documentary as well as to address some of the issues affecting First Nations in Quebec.

This Panel Discussion is being organized by Missing Justice, a grassroots solidarity collective based in Montreal that works to eliminate violence and discrimination against Indigenous women in Quebec. The collective seeks to consult and collaborate with Indigenous communities and organizations to foster understanding and dispel harmful stereotypes commonly held in regards to Indigenous women who are targets of violence.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear two powerful women speak about important issues affecting Indigenous peoples. For more information do not hesitate to contact Missing Justice by email at justiceformissing@gmail.com or visit our website at missingjustice.ca.

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The 1st Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Montreal will take place on Sunday February 14th at 1:30pm/ 13h30 at Parc Emilie- Gamelin, Montreal- corner of St. Hubert and Berri St. We will then walk north on Hubert St., west on Ontario St. and north on St. Laurent to Parc des Ameriques (Rachel and St. Laurent)

The Memorial March for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women first began in 1991 after the murder of a woman, whose name is not spoken today out of respect for her family’s wishes, on Powell St., Vancouver. Out of frustration and desperation, the people of the Vancouver community organized an annual march on Valentine’s Day to express compassion, community, and caring to all women in Vancouver.

Since 1991, the Memorial March has spread across Canada, this year with groups in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, London, Sudbury, Toronto, and now for the first time Montreal. The march honors and commemorates Indigenous women in particular who face physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual violence on a daily basis.

We would like to invite all those who have lost loved ones, sisters, mothers, cousins, best friends and other close relatives, to lead Montreal’s First Annual Commemorative March for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.  This is an optional, open invitation meant to honor the families and loved ones who experience daily the tragedy of their loss, and to honor their lead in the struggle to heal and bring justice to the lives and memories of loved ones.

The Montreal Police are asking for the public’s help in locating 17-year-old Bea Kwaronhiahawi Barnes, who was last seen on January 5. Police say she requires medication which she does not have with her. Police said they believe she is in the Chateauguay area. She was wearing a beige and white checked coat and beige boots when she was last seen. She has brown hair and brown eyes and is 5’5” and weighs about 200 pounds. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is being asked to call 514-393-1133.

(WINNIPEG MB, December 15, 2009) “There is no question – absolutely no question – that we are going to put violence against women at the centre of this country’s agenda, starting right now,” said Suzanne Dzus of Calgary.

Ms. Dzus made this compelling declaration following a day long meeting of women anti-violence advocates held at the Manitoba Status of Women offices in Winnipeg on Saturday. The women are key organizers of Missing and Murdered Women Memorial marches held in communities across British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.

Women at this first-time meeting know full well that Canada has a very long history of hiding its dirty secrets when it comes to violence against women in general and Aboriginal women specifically, as Aboriginal women are disproportionally represented among the missing and murdered women in Canada.

“Once again, we are taking up the work of holding the Canadian government accountable for its history of colonialism and entrenched racism and the immense violence against women their seemingly never-ending denials have caused,” said Carol Martin of Vancouver.

“We are moving forward with the leadership of Aboriginal women at the absolute centre of our efforts,” said Martin.

“We understand that a massive change is needed. We know Aboriginal women have the leadership, the experience, the wisdom and the power to bring our communities back to wholeness, to create the healing our country so desperately needs,” said Lisa Michell of Winnipeg.

The advocates returned to their communities dedicated to igniting a totally new level of action that includes co-ordination of memorial marches nationally and the development of a national strategy on ending violence against women. “Violence against women is everybody’s business” said Michell. Another meeting will happen in January, as plans for involving the children of missing and murdered women get underway.

“The children have lost their grandmothers, their mothers, their aunts, their sisters, their friends. All murdered, with so many, nowhere to be found. Why is our country willing to have its children suffer these unendurable losses? Why do our children have to carry these horrific stories?” asked Danielle Boudreau of Edmonton.

The group also intends to work with men genuinely dedicated to doing everything they can to end the violence. “We are looking for men committed to taking every single necessary step to end the terror visited on women,” said Angela Marie MacDougall of Vancouver.

The Memorial Marches for Missing and Murdered Women occur every February 14th across Canada. There is an estimated 3,000 women who have gone missing or been found murdered since 1969. Each case has left families of the victims and the broader community questioning whether the authorities acted responsibly to investigate longstanding reports of missing women. Aboriginal women constitute a majority of the cases from this period; research has indicated that more than 500 Aboriginal women are known to be missing, and feared murdered, in Canada.

For more information contact:

Lisa Michell – Women’s Memorial March Committee Chair Winnipeg 204-299-6425

Danielle Boudreau – Founder Women’s Memorial March Edmonton 780-919-5707

Suzanne Dzus – Founder Women’s Memorial March Calgary 403-700-5560

Angela Marie MacDougall – Women’s Memorial March Planning Committee Vancouver 604-808-0507

Carol Lynne D’Arcangelis – No More Silence Toronto 416-925-7113

Gladys Radek – Co-Founder Walk 4 Justice 604-569-5989

Carol Martin – Women’s Memorial March Planning Committee Vancouver 604-681-8480 Ext 233

Audrey Huntley – Women’s Memorial March No More Silence 604-657-8864

Marlene George – Women’s Memorial March Planning Committee Chair Vancouver 604-665-2220

As the 20th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre approaches, I challenge myself and all of us who identify as feminists and social justice activists to deepen and broaden our analysis of violence against women. While we should continue to honour victims and survivors, let us not forget that physical brutalization is only one of the many faces of violence against women and that its occurrence is contextualized and made possible by much more pervasive conditions of violence against women – particularly indigenous women, women of colour and poor women.

We need to expand our understanding of violence against women to include the naturalized limitations, deprivations and hyper-exploitation characterizing women’s realities – particularly indigenous women, women of colour, and poor women – that deepen their vulnerability to more overt and widely recognized forms of violence against women. The danger with fixating on sensationalized instances of violence against women is that we may extremize it in the public consciousness, i.e. make them seem like outlier experiences, rather than the outcome of systemic and political processes insistently shaping the social position of women as a devalued, commodified and exploited group of human beings in our society. Furthermore, when we focus on individual and isolated incidents of violence against women it becomes easier to externalize blame (either on a few “sick” individuals or men as homogenous group) rather than hold all of us accountable for the ways in which we, as a society, continue to permit and depend on violence against women as a silent, invisible precondition of our access to the comforts of “First World” citizenship. For instance, women – as middle class consumers, as careerists depending on the services of the indentured live-in caregivers, as beneficiaries of pharmaceutical experimentation done on the bodies of Third World women – are also perpetrators of violence against women. People of all genders are complicit in the perpetuation of patriarchy – not just those who seem to logically benefit from it – and therefore are all responsible for its eradication.

Because gender oppression (not only of women, but of all peoples who do not conform to the dominant male/female gender roles and prescribed heterosexuality) is shaped by colonialism, racism and capitalism, all women are not susceptible to the same kinds of violence. This is especially true in respect to state and state-sponsored, i.e. “lawful”, violence which is facilitated by the systemic impoverishment and degradation of populations that have already been marked for disappearance, discipline, exploitation and war. It is incredibly important to remember that contrary to its self-peddled image as protector, the state has proven itself over and over again to be the greatest purveyor of violence against women.

Violence against indigenous women

Violence against women in white-settler states like Canada is inseparable from its historical and present context of ongoing colonization. Although the federal government has issued a formal apology for the institution of residential schools which deliberately attempted to destroy any semblance of indigenous identity, culture and community, it continues to legislate and participate in the victimization of indigenous women. The following situations are illustrative, though definitely not exhaustive, of ongoing assaults on indigenous women’s self-determination and dignity.

1 in 20 Aboriginal children are currently living under the custody of the government, representing 50% of all children in care. And contrary to BC law, only a tiny percentage of these children are actually placed in Aboriginal homes. This means that the practice of child apprehension by the state systemically targets indigenous mothers and disproportionately affects indigenous communities. Much like its residential school predecessor, the child apprehension system removes the responsibility (and therefore, power) to transfer values and life skills out of the hands of the child’s mother and community and invests it in the state. The child apprehension system clearly targets poor women, as middle and upper class women do not face nearly the same extent of barriers to parenting and are able to access private services when they do struggle with it. 42.7% of indigenous women live in poverty, which is double the rate of non-indigenous women, reflecting the ravages of colonization and the toll of displacement as access to their traditional lands, resources and livelihoods continue to be eroded by avaricious state and capital interests. The adoption of legalistic and professionalized language around familial and childhood development norms obscure the fact that this practice is essentially a colonial and classist manifestation of violence of against women whereby the bonds between mother and child, one generation and the next, which are so necessary to community and collective identity, are continually rendered precarious and under assault.

Violent state intervention in the family lives of indigenous women also includes the policing of Indian Status membership through indigenous women’s bodies. Indigenous women have historically and presently had to navigate extremely complicated rules and regulations to maintain or reclaim Indian Status both for themselves and their children. An excellent overview of these laws can be found here.

Indigenous women are also highly over-represented in the incarcerated population; although they account for only 3% of the female population in Canada, they represent 29% of women incarcerated in federal prisons. Poverty, mental illness, addiction and history of prior abuse are significant contributing factors propelling these women into conflict with the law. Provincially, the statistics are even more disturbing. Between 2004-2005, indigenous women accounted for 54% of all female prisoners in Alberta; 83% in Manitoba and the Yukon; 87% in Saskatchewan.

At the same time, racism, sexism and colonial entitlement converge to make indigenous women extremely vulnerable to individual acts of violence (particularly by white men) being committed under the blind eye of the state: since 1980, up to 3000 indigenous women have gone missing or murdered across Canada with 500 of the outstanding cases originating in BC alone. A Manitoba Justice inquiry in the murder case of Helen Betty Osborne recognized, for instance, the stereotyping of indigenous women as “promiscuous” or “sexually available”, which leads to the condoning of their perpetrators’ violent acts.

The degradation, use and abuse of indigenous women’s bodies and roles in their communities have been an integral component of the Canadian colonial imperative. Apart from the legacies of interpersonal, intracommunal and familial violence imposed by colonial institutions, indigenous women are also unsafe from the (white-settler) state, which has as its foundational logic the political disappearance of indigenous power, identity and self-determination.

Violence against migrant women

Women with citizenship in this country – whether we work or not – can go about our daily business without worrying about our right to occupy the public sphere (even if our unequal participation and influence in that sphere is to be lamented). Meanwhile, undocumented women who have been driven out of their homelands must contend constantly with the threat and reality of detention and deportation. The reasons for displacement also typically originate with state and corporate-sponsored violence, such as in the case of Mexico, where NAFTA-induced land grabs have displaced millions of indigenous peasants and transformed them from independent farmers to urban slum dwellers dependent on maquiladora employment with horrific conditions of labour or migrants risking death, imprisonment or expulsion as undocumented workers in the United States or Canada. One of the large-scale raids conducted by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) in spring 2009 rounded up nine women workers of Lakeside Produce– one of whom was pregnant – and detained them in the Windsor County Jail.

Border rapes are also increasingly being documented along the US-Mexico border, where 10,653 women were detained in 2008 alone. The immense discretionary powers of border officials, heightened by their militarization in the years following 9/11, combined with the utter lack of protection and desperation of the women involved, have understandably resulted in under-reporting of these incidents. While for these reasons there is no conclusive account of border rape victims, advocates counselling some of these women have reported that while some of the rapes have resulted in pregnancies, the women in detention are not permitted to access abortion services. We as residents of Canada should be concerned, firstly because Canada is a member and beneficiary of NAFTA and secondly, because of Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States which prohibits displaced peoples from making a refugee application in Canada if they have passed through the United States.

Furthermore, there is Canada’s unspoken policy of refusing refugee status to Mexican women fleeing violence under the rationale that their lives would not be in danger if they were deported because the Mexican state is able to provide “adequate” protection. As part of this policy, CBSA thugs are known to lurk around Ontario shelters in wait for undocumented women, and at least one woman has been killed since her refugee status application was refused and she was deported back to Mexico.

Immigrant women of colour in general are disproportionately commodified as cheap, flexible labour in the textile, electronic and care-giving industries. My mother is one of these women. She came to Canada as a registered nurse and as a result of Canada’s decertification policy, has worked as a low-waged electronic assembler for the past fourteen years. Two years ago, she underwent carpal tunnel surgery and lost full use of her right hand as a consequence of the intense, repetitive and monotonous labour demanded by her job. She was laid off the following year. At least my mom’s got her citizenship at this point. Unlike her, many Filipina women are forced into indentured labour under the Live-in Caregiver Program, where access to citizenship is conditional upon completion of two years of service as a live-in caregiver. As has been documented by the Philippine Women’s Centre, live-in caregivers are subject to arbitrary treatment by their employers, some working for as low as $2 per hour and are constantly threatened by the prospect of deportation over draconian regulations and circumstances out of their control.

The spectre of deportation is a powerful deterrent for women living and working with precarious status to report experiences of violence, even as that very same precarity makes them more vulnerable than the average female citizen to abuse of all sorts.

Violence against poor women

In the case of BC, it is deeply ironic that the same government responsible for maintaining the highest child poverty rate in the country (18.8% or 156,000 poor children) is also the one entrusting itself with the care of children apprehended from poor homes. The child poverty rate is an indicator of the impoverishment of single mothers in this province, as 9 out of 10 single-parent homes are led by women and these mothers make only 75% of the income of single fathers. The lack of affordable, accessible and quality universal childcare further curtails poor women’s options in accessing education and more secure employment.

Poor women are also severely impacted by the aggressive erosion of (already insufficient) affordable housing as a result of gentrification and evidenced by the soaring levels of homelessness in B.C. – nearly 12,000 in 2007 according to the coroner’s office. The representation of women in the homeless population is likely to be underestimated, however, as homeless women are more likely than men to use alternative forms of shelter, for instance staying at transition houses or with friends (what’s commonly become known as “couch surfing”). These women are much more vulnerable to domestic, sexual and physical abuse, and many suffer from mental illnesses.

The feminization of poverty needs to be recognized as a systemic form of violence against women which stems first and foremost from the devaluation of women’s lives, bodies and labour. Indeed, women continue to be burdened (and stigmatized) with the essential yet unpaid work of care-giving and reproducing society, which also amounts to a massive subsidization of the capitalist labour market.

Violence against women living in the South

Corporate theft of land, destruction of natural resources, conversion of the subsistence commons to mass export production fields, dumping of toxic waste, nuclear testing, special economic (aka sweatshop) zones, patenting of local organic material, unethical pharmaceutical testing, privatization of basic necessities of life (such as water), the withholding of access to life-saving medication…

These are all systemic violent processes affecting people living in the South. Women are disproportionately affected as they are most likely to be hyper-exploited as cheap labour in manufacturing factories, while having to shoulder in addition the “external costs” of privatization (i.e. disappearance of essential services, such as health care) in their communities. Many women end up being forced to migrate – both through legal and illegal channels – to other countries in order to work and send money home to their families. I come from Indonesia, where around 400,000 people are registered as migrant workers annually, 70% of them women. The desperate circumstances of these women place them in much greater risk of being trafficked and/or forced into sex work in order to buy their liberty back.

Population control initiatives that parallel the “greening” movement in North America also target the reproductive choices of women of colour in the South as the root cause of environmental destruction (i.e. overpopulation combined with scarce resources). This is not to say of course that women should not be availed of the full range of choices in respect to their reproductive capacity, including birth control, but it is another to completely distort reality and demonize precisely those who are the most victimized by environmental degradation. Militarization, industrialization, the extreme mal-distribution of political power and economic resources between North and South that is the consequence of colonialism…these are the endemic and destructive processes that need to be stopped and reversed.

Militarization, in its various faces as invasion, occupation, nuclear testing, etc. is also a form of violence against women. Women are affected not only as combatants and unintended civilian casualties, but as members of their communities with the responsibility to patch life up, sustain it, and keep it going under the direst circumstances. Contrary to the “women’s liberation” rhetoric peddled out by opportunistic politicians in favour of bringing and keeping troops in Afghanistan, for instance, youngest member of the Afghan parliament, Malalai Joya demands the withdrawal of both Canadian and American troops which have brought about “night raids, torture, and aerial bombardment” killing hundreds of Afghani civilians.

As geographically removed as the women may be from us, their struggles are intimately intertwined with ours. The government we petition to provide us with protection is very often the same one from whom they need protection.

They may not be named, but they will not be forgotten.

As a survivor of physical and sexual violence, a woman of colour, an immigrant, and a low-income single mother, I have come to see myself as a responsible agent in understanding the roots and complex realities constituting “violence against women” - to understand as fully as possible the historical, social, economic, cultural and political processes through which I was victimized, and how other women who are positioned differently from me have come to be victimized. I am responsible, not in the sense of being culpable, but in the sense that I retain and reclaim my ability to respond, and to choose to respond in ways that enhance mine and others’ self-determination. My story and identity today are as much the product of a conscious struggle for liberation as it is of victimization.

There are many more women who because of their oppressive contexts are made much more vulnerable to sexual and physical violence. Disabled women are 150% more likely to experience sexual abuse than so-called able-bodied women. As a result of their dependency on family members and professionals, their agency to protect themselves or get away from their abusers is seriously compromised. Moreover, the construction of disabled women as “non-sexual” and “incompetent” makes it more likely that they will not access the necessary sex education to make self-determined choices and will not be believed even if they do report incidents of gendered violence. Abuse (and trauma from abuse) can also lead to disability, introducing a vicious cycle that deepens women’s vulnerability to victimization. Earlier this year, for instance, I worked with a woman who was so severely brutalized by her husband that she lost her ability to speak.

The convergence of sexism, homophobia, transphobia and racism also make transgendered women another extremely vulnerable group. As of November 14, 2009, the number of transgender-related deaths globally has reached 101, more than doubling the count for 2008 (47) and disproportionately affecting transgendered women of colour. Click here to see their names.

A gathering storm

The brutalization and murder of women should rightly inspire horror, outrage and grief. Yet as we remember the victims of the Polytechnique massacre, let us also search out the stories and lives buried deep below the radar of public consciousness; let us honour also the ones we were not supposed to see – much less, grieve.

We will not eradicate violence against women without dismantling the oppressive colonial and capitalist systems that necessitate it. We must widen and deepen our vision to include and re-centre the normalized conditions of violence under which indigenous women, women of colour, disabled women, queer and transgendered women, poor women, and women in the South are fighting to survive, for these conditions are also the building blocks of our entitlement to comfort, “security”, a consumerist way of life and state protection. One of the first things we can do is to participate in making visible the lives and realities we are compelled daily to forget, and the deaths we are not supposed to grieve.

Let us have the confidence to believe in and work towards a liberated future.