Indigenous Women’s Experiences of Colonial Violence by the Canadian Legal System in the Context of their Intimate Partner Violence Relationships

Contemporary violence against Indigenous women (VAIW) is enacted through a comprehensive range of state agencies designed to oppress Indigenous peoples so they cannot challenge settler colonial dominion. One such state agency is that of the Canadian Legal System (CLS). Tasked with upholding the authority of the settler colonial state, the CLS enacts institutional and structural violence to reproduce conditions of marginalization and oppression of Indigenous people. One avenue in which this violence is enacted is found in inadequate CLS response to epidemic rates of VAIW. Despite multiple calls to action and justice which specifically name the CLS, rates of VAIW remain high, particularly rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) against Indigenous women. As the CLS is the de facto response to violent victimization and IPV, Indigenous women are forced to turn to an institution that has demonstrated indifference to their victimization.\nThis thesis investigates Indigenous women’s’ experience of colonial violence by and through the CLS in the context of their IPV relationship. Using an Indigenous feminist framework to critically analyze 30 Indigenous women’s narratives of seeking out the CLS to address their IPV victimization reveals several common experiences. Findings revealed an overarching experience of colonial violence - comprised of and experienced as institutional and structural violence – that has served to reproduce the conditions in which these women initially underwent violence, resulting in more opportunities for their continual victimization and revictimization. CLS inaction to meaningfully address their IPV victimization stemmed from latent bias and assumptions of Indigenous women as culpable, and thus, deserving of the violence they were experiencing. When reporting violence, many reported being met with skepticism about whether they experienced violence at all, and disbelief about the severity of that violence. Whether through inaction or direct action, the CLS contributes to these Indigenous women’s experiences of IPV. It becomes apparent that the CLS’s response to VAIW, particularly IPV against Indigenous women, is a continuation of the settler colonial project of elimination, making it clear that the CLS has no role in addressing IPV and VAIW in Indigenous communities.

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.