|
Author
|
Topic: Battered and forgotten: domestic violence in aboriginal communities
|
kuri
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4202
|
posted 24 October 2005 05:16 PM
quote:
Family violence is not an aboriginal problem -- it touches women of every race, and every victim suffers from shattered self-esteem and feelings of helplessness.But those who work with battered aboriginal women say their problems are compounded by physical isolation, poverty, lack of education, meagre job prospects, enormous family responsibilities and racism. Brenda Brochu is the executive director of the Peace River Regional Women's Shelter, which serves a vast portion of northern Alberta, including Little Buffalo. Aboriginal women account for three of every four victims who come to her shelter. "Having a lot of child-care responsibilities, having large families, can be an impediment to leaving because earning enough money to support the family is daunting," Brochu says. "And a lot of aboriginal women haven't finished high school, so the kind of employment that is available to them is service jobs. It is hard to make enough money." An aboriginal woman might not even have a telephone to call for help, let alone a vehicle in which to escape. Brochu remembers once hiring a taxi to drive about 250 kilometres to pick up a woman escaping domestic violence....
From Horrified children (October 22) Karen Kleiss of the Edmonton Journal has been doing a series on domestic violence in aboriginal communities across Alberta, after travelling the province for interviews. Abuse went on for 10 years (October 23) Children bear invisible scars (October 24) [ 24 October 2005: Message edited by: kurichina ]
From: an employer more progressive than rabble.ca | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
skdadl
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 478
|
posted 26 October 2005 10:49 AM
kurichina, I couldn't get through to the later pages in some of those links, but I've read enough to see that it is a great series. A horribly sad story, though. You can see the cycle, can't you. Getting the women and kids out of danger is an immediate need, and the funding for those shelters has got to be increased, the number of shelters increased, but the long-term solution has to be community healing, as the last article in the series shows us. At least in that article we can see a couple of model programs for community healing for the children. The shelters and the support for the women have to be there. But what about the men? Those men who came out of the residential system, who passed on their despair through several generations of their families? Or the men who were adopted out and grew up with a fractured sense of identity?
From: gone | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
writer
editor emeritus
Babbler # 2513
|
posted 11 November 2005 01:24 PM
I don't mean to shift the focus of this thread, but thought this article might be of interest: quote:
One woman's search for native male role modelsJenkins, a Metis, says that while there are at least four national organizations devoted to supporting and advocating on behalf of aboriginal women, there are no groups doing the same job for men. Yet, for reasons too numerous and complex to explain here, native men have generally the worst state of health, highest suicide rate, highest rate of addiction and highest rate of preventable injuries of any demographic in the country.
From: tentative | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Email this thread to someone!
