This thesis focuses on Aboriginal women as survivors of intimate violence, and as
participants in debates about justice and rights in the academic, political and legal spheres.
While several federal and provincial reports have documented the adverse impact of the
dominant criminal justice system on Aboriginal peoples, most of the reports fail to consider
the impact of the dominant system, and of reform initiatives on Aboriginal women, who
engage with such systems primarily as survivors of violence. Although feminist legal
scholars and activists have focused on survivors of violence in critiquing the dominant justice
system, such discourses have also tended to ignore the needs and concerns of Aboriginal
women in recommending reforms to the dominant system, as well as in theorizing the causes
and sites of intimate violence.
Using feminist methods, I explore how the writings of Aboriginal women have begun
to fill these gaps. In focusing on gender and racial oppression, Aboriginal women have
complicated theories on and reforms around intimate violence, and have demanded that they
be included in the shaping of public institutions in both the Canadian legal system, and in
the context of Aboriginal self-government. While Aboriginal women largely support the
creation of Aboriginal justice systems, some have expressed concerns about the willingness
of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal leaders to include women in the process of creating,
implementing and operating such systems. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
as well as Aboriginal rights under the Constitution Act, 1982 have been advocated as means
of achieving Aboriginal women's participation in this context.
This gives rise to a number of fundamental questions which I examine in my thesis.
What is the historical basis for the participation of Aboriginal women in the political process,
and for survivors of violence in both the dominant and Aboriginal justice systems? What is
the significance of the absence of Aboriginal women from dominant discourses on justice and
intimate violence? Might a broader level of participation for survivors of violence, both
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, ameliorate the problematic aspects of the dominant justice
system? Does the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provide a vehicle for survivors
of violence who seek a greater level of protection and participation in the dominant justice
system? Can the Charter, or Aboriginal rights under the Canadian constitution, assist
Aboriginal women in establishing a right of participation in the processes leading to the
creation of Aboriginal justice systems, and their participation in such systems once they have
been created? What are the limitations of rights discourse in this context?
My analysis suggests that the Supreme Court of Canada's conservative approach to
rights, as well as more fundamental limitations in rights discourse, make constitutional
litigation within the dominant system a sometimes necessary, but not ideal strategy for
Aboriginal women in defining their involvement in the political and justice arenas. On the
other hand, there is potential for rights discourse to bear more fruit once Aboriginal decision
making fora are in place, in keeping with holistic approaches to interpretation, and the
traditional roles of Aboriginal women and survivors of violence in justice and in the
community.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/6533 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Koshan, Jennifer |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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