MAIRIN IWANKA RAYA: Indigenous Women Stand Against Violence

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MAIRIN IWANKA RAYAIndigenous Women Stand
Against Violence

• A Companion Report to the United Nations
  Secretary-Generals Study on Violence Against
  Women
• International Indigenous Womens Forum
• FIMI

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FIMIInternational Indigenous Womens Forum

• The regional representatives of FIMI work on the
  whole to articulate the demands of the Indigenous
  Peoples movement.
• Equality and non-discrimination and the
  Principle of the Seventh Generation guides FIMI(
  all decision-making is done taking into
  consideration the impact of ones actions on the
  welfare of the seventh generation to come) are
  the main principles underpinning FIMI's work.
• The companion report to the UN Secretary-Generals
  Study reflects the history and contemporary
  experiences of Indigenous women.

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FIMIs Concerns

• Historic denial of the rights of Indigenous
  Peoples.
• Backward movement of the States with respect to
  womens rights, Indigenous Peoples rights, and
  human rights.
• The War on Terror after September 11th.
• Highly politicized notions of culture.
• Sexual and reproductive rights.

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Goals of the Report

• Propose an indigenous conception of gender-based
  violence.
• Emphasize the importance of studying violence
  against women in relation to aspects of identity
  that are beyond gender, using an approach that
  accounts for the ways in which identities and
  systems of domination interact to create the
  conditions of womens lives.
• Communicate Indigenous womens viewpoints to
  allies and colleagues.
• Contribute to the work of civil society
  organizations to combat violence against
  Indigenous women.
• Highlight promising practices.
• Contextualize situations of violence, illuminate
  root causes.
• Introduce new concepts and questions about
  violence against indigenous women.

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Indigenous Womens Perspective on Violence
Against Women

• Shaped by mutually reinforcing factors
• Colonization and militarism
• Racism, discrimination and social exclusion
• Poverty
• Patriarchy
• Intersectionality interrelations between
  distinct aspects of identity.
• Requires an integrated analysis within a human
  rights framework violence based on distinct but
  overlapping identities.
• Violence is nearly universal, defined by
  gender-based discrimination.

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Three Interrelated Fields

• Overcoming the dichotomy between individual and
  collective rights and recognizing collective
  rights as a necessary complement to individual
  rights.
• Example individual rights cannot be enjoyed
  unless collective rights are recognized.
• The systemic violation of collective rights of
  Indigenous Peoples is the single greatest risk
  factor for gender-based violence.
• Territories basis of our identities.
• Securing Indigenous womens rights in
  particular, the right to freedom from violence as
  defined by Indigenous women is integral for
  securing the rights of the Indigenous Peoples as
  a whole.
• UN Declaration of the Indigenous Peoples right
  to freely determine political status and
  economic, social, and cultural development.

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Indigenous Conception of Violence Against Women

• Revisit categories family, community, State.
• Consider legal framework in which the past and
  the future matter, ancestors and future
  generations are integral members of our
  communities.
• Indigenous womens notions of territories,
  boundaries, citizenship, and residence that shape
  relationships with States are different.
• Violence originates in the global arena include
  transnational category (example border crossing,
  trafficking of indigenous women).
• Ecological violence impact of policies and
  practices that harm the earth, climate stability,
  ecosystems, health, livelihoods, social status,
  and cultural survival of Indigenous women.
• Spiritual violence impact of systemic attack on
  indigenous spiritual practices and of violence
  against women, desecration of sacred sites,etc.
• Clarify difference between gender-based violence
  and violence against women
• Example displacement is not an act of
  gender-based violence domestic violence
  (spiritual or cultural dislocation forced
  assimilation) is an act of racism because the
  woman is Indigenous.

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Manifestations of Violence in the Lives of
Indigenous Women

• Neoliberalism and development aggression against
  Indigenous women
• Patriarchy
• Violence in the name of tradition
• State violence and domestic violence
• Armed conflict and militarization
• Migration and displacement
• HIV/AIDS

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Neoliberalism and Development Aggression Against
Indigenous women

• Spiritual violence degradation of the earth as a
  form of violence against women.
• Economic violence polluted maize (gift from
  Gods).
• Biopiracy and Intellectual Property Rights
  related to Trade (TRIPS) the privatization of
  genetic resources to obtain patent rights.
• Plunder of natural resources
• Water
• Extractive Industries
• Impact on cultural values, self-development and
  sustainable practices
• Cultural imperialism tied to economic
  globalization
• Intergenerational family violence (or elder
  abuse) threaten the survival of Indigenous
  cultures.
• Disproportionate use of Indigenous territories as
  dumping sites.

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Violence in the Name of Tradition

• Cultural practices are fluid, contested, and
  connected to relations of power.
• Respect for cultural differences can exist
  simultaneously with the belief that cultural
  practices and beliefs can and do change.
• Culture is part of the context in which abuses
  occur, but it does not justify abuses.
• Culture can be used as a source of resistance to
  violence.
• Stereotype of Backward cultures
  Protectionist logic

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Rights vs. CultureThe False Dichotomy and the
Reconciliation Between Culture and Human Rights

• Cultural relativism has been used to shield human
  rights abuses by designating them as cultural
  it argues the inherent tension between universal
  human rights standards and local cultural
  practices.
• The need to overcome the premise that culture
  oppresses women.
• Many cultures transmit values that condemn
  violence against women cooperation, harmony,
  balance, and respect.
• The main challenge is to make human rights norms
  accessible and meaningful in local communities,
  deconstructing religions and cultures.

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The State and Domestic Violence

• Laws as source of violence
• The need to develop complementary processes
• Restorative justice
• Risk of domestic violence increases because of
  correlation with other human rights violations
  and with State racism (neglect, inaction).
• Look beyond the criminal dichotomy of victim and
  perpetrator look for the reasons why the crime
  occurs, including the conditions that form the
  perpetrators psychological, moral, and spiritual
  status, and for the connection to violations of
  Indigenous Peoples collective rights.

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Armed Conflict and Militarization

• Relations with resources-rich territories of
  Indigenous Peoples
• Resource wars contests over land, water,
  precious minerals, and energy sources, tied to
  neoliberalism and development aggression
• Taming the frontier destruction, eradicating
  savage ways of life
• Rape as a weapon of war aims to subjugate and
  colonize entire communities and peoples

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Indigenous Women as Promoters of Peace

• The role of the Indigenous women as promoters of
  peace is rooted in cultural values and historical
  traditions.
• Indigenous women provide care to communities
  affected by armed conflicts.
• The need to promote Indigenous womens leadership
  in official peace processes and to support their
  capabilities and experiences as mediators and
  negotiators within communities.

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Migration and Displacement of Indigenous Women

• Related to economical and development policies
• Urban settings new forms of violence and social
  consequences that increase violence with no
  support from the traditional community and
  culture
• Criminalization of migrants in US increases
  violence
• Femicide
• Forced assimilation cultural genocide
• Displacement
• Refugees in the name of Conservation to justify
  state control over territories and resources of
  Indigenous Peoples

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Growing Prevalence of HIV/AIDSAmong Indigenous
Women
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Promising PracticesNicaragua Restoring
Indigenous Rights and Defending Human Rights of
Women and Men

• Preserve and develop traditional roles,
  transmitting knowledge and cultural values
• Strengthen womens social status and confidence.
• Promote womens human rights and collective human
  rights of their people
• Restorative justice that combines the official
  practices of traditional justice systems with the
  benefits of international human rights norms
• Community-based conflict mediation programs
• Training in human rights for community members
• Intergenerational dialogues.

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Promising PracticesKenya Funding an
Independent, Women-Run Community

• Negotiate land and resources
• Seek international justice against aggressors
• Human rights training
• Strengthen womens political mobilization
• Promote womens participation in community
  development processes
• Economic autonomy develop a system of sharing
  resources, sickness/disability fund, etc.
• Educate young girls

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Promising Practices Developing Indicators to
Measure Violence Against Indigenous Women

• Guidelines proposed by FIMI
• Level of protection, fulfillment, and respect of
  collective rights
• Support of the Declaration on the Rights of
  Indigenous Peoples by the government
• Level of control over territory and natural
  resources and enjoyment of sovereignty over food
• Level of respect of womens dignity in government
  policy. Measures adopted to avoid physical and
  structural violence (bodies, homes, communities,
  and peoples)
• Access to government services (intercultural
  education, healthcare, water, sanitation,
  housing, transportation, justice)
• Allocation of resources
• Data desegregation
• Adoption of policies and programs based on free,
  prior, and informed consent
• Occupation of Indigenous territories
• Policies to eradicate racism and respect
  identities
• Level of internalized racism and sexism
• Location of Indigenous women within historical
  trajectory
• Level of perception of Indigenous womens lives
  in relation to their ecosystems

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Recommendations

• Develop new concepts
• Indigenous definition of violence against women
  and gender-based violence
• Cultural indicators based on individual and
  collective rights that can adequately expose and
  reflect on the prevalence of violence against
  Indigenous women
• Desegregation of data by ethnicity
• Strengthen Indigenous womens advocacy
• Education
• Support community-based initiatives to combat
  violence
• Public education directed at Indigenous and
  non-Indigenous sectors
• Data collection
• Develop new methods of investigation, including
  methods of desegregated data collection on
  Indigenous women
• Action-oriented studies that respond to women
  living in situations of violence
• Document violence against Indigenous women
  worldwide
• Public Policy
• National judicial system includes collective
  rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Incorporate traditional, indigenous processes of
  justice in national judicial systems
• Human rights training for police and other state
  actors

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Recommendations

• Promote Indigenous womens leadership
• Education, training, and capacity-building at all
  levels
• Information technology
• Allocate resources to support initiatives in
  local, national, and international arenas
• Advance Indigenous Peoples rights
• Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
  must be approved without amendments

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• International Indigenous Womens Forum
• 121 West 27th Street, 301
• New York, NY 10001
• Tel [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• Email fimi_at_madre.org
• Website http//www.indigenouswomensforum.org