Experiences Of Indigenous Women Research Articles

Temporalities of emergency: the experiences of Indigenous women with traumatic brain injury from violence waiting for healthcare and service support in Australia

ABSTRACT Globally, traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been recognised as a serious health issue not only because of the immediate impacts at the time the injury occurs but even more so due to the longstanding impacts. Even though TBI is a globally recognised condition, the research is disproportionately focused on its incidence in, and immediate and long-term effects on men. A growing body of research suggests that generally, women who experience family violence are at high risk of TBI and suffer its impacts in ways that reflect gendered differences in the patterns and frequency of violence. In Australia, the social and physical costs of TBI are multiplied for Indigenous women, whose experience of disability and access to healthcare lies at the intersection of gender and race in the historical context of settler colonialism. The present study addresses the need for research into the sociodemographic inequalities that affect access to culturally appropriate hospital care, timely response systems, and flexible, safe and engaged social services. This paper draws on data from interviews and focus groups with Indigenous women, hospital staff and community-based service providers and suggests potential pathways for further research in settler-colonial settings elsewhere in the world.

Decolonizing meanings climate crisis and land-based adaptions: From Indigenous women's perspectives in Western Canada

This paper explores the critical issue of decolonizing meanings within the context of the climate crisis and land-based adaptations, specifically focusing on Indigenous women's perspectives in Western Canada. The study focuses on the intricate relationship between Indigenous knowledge, culture, and the environment, emphasizing the unique insights that Indigenous women bring to the discourse surrounding climate change and adaptation. Drawing on the decolonial feminist research approach, community engagement, and participatory research methods, the paper highlights the diverse ways Indigenous women conceptualize the climate crisis and respond to the impacts of the climate crisis on their traditional lands. It critically examines the colonial legacies that have shaped environmental policies and interventions, often marginalizing Indigenous voices and perspectives. The findings advocate the importance of centering Indigenous women's knowledge and experiences in climate change discourse and policy-making. By decolonizing meanings, the paper advocates for a more inclusive and equitable approach to land-based adaptations that acknowledges the resilience and wisdom embedded in Indigenous land-based learning and practice. This research contributes to the ongoing dialogue on sustainable and culturally sensitive strategies for addressing the climate crisis, fostering a deeper understanding of the intersections between gender, Indigeneity, and environmental justice.

Climate change and its impact on the mental health well‐being of Indigenous women in Western cities, Canada

AbstractThis collaborative paper explores the interconnections between climate change and the mental health and well‐being of Indigenous women in Western Canada. As the impacts of climate change intensify globally, vulnerable populations, particularly Indigenous communities, face disproportionate and multifaceted challenges. Centering on Indigenous women in Western Canada, this study explores how the climate crisis magnifies Indigenous communities' mental health disparities. Drawing from the Indigenist feminist research approach, the investigation focuses on Indigenous women's lived experiences, perceptions, and land‐based coping strategies amidst climate challenges, while simultaneously addressing the unique social, cultural, and historical factors influencing their mental health vulnerabilities within the context of climate change. The findings shed light on the complex relationships between environmental degradation, ongoing colonial impacts on traditional practices, and the mental well‐being of Indigenous women. Concluding with implications for policy and community‐led interventions, this research contributes to the discourse on the intersectionality of climate change impacts and mental health, particularly focusing on Indigenous women in Western Canada.

Racism and access to maternal health care among garo indigenous women in Bangladesh: A qualitative descriptive study.

Racism as social determinant of health significantly affects Indigenous women's maternal healthcare access. This study uses Jones' 'Three Levels of Racism' theory and an intersectional lens to explore how racism shapes the experience of maternal health care access among Garo Indigenous women in Bangladesh. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 women of diverse backgrounds and pregnancy statuses using snowball sampling. Thematic analysis, incorporating inductive and deductive approaches, was employed for data analysis. The findings reveal a significant deviation from Jones' theory regarding the level of internalized racism within the specific context of Garo Indigenous women's experiences. Jones' theory usually focuses on how racism is internalized due to institutional and personally-mediated factors. On the contrary, this study uncovers a unique theme: 'women agency.' This theme emerges as a robust response among the Garo Indigenous women to their encounters with institutional and personally-mediated racism, highlighting their cultural resistance and resilience. The findings suggest that the complex relationship between these two forms of racism contributes to the strengthening of agency among Garo Indigenous women. Their agency stems from avoiding hospitals that disrespect their culture, manifesting their cultural resistance practice against the encountered racism at the institutional and relational levels. To increase biomedical healthcare access among Garo Indigenous women, it is recommended to address racism through intercultural competency training with the 'cultural safety' 'cultural humility' approach. This approach would foster inclusivity and empowerment, recognizing the agency of Garo women in healthcare decisions. Additionally, it would facilitate constructive dialogues between clinicians and Garo Indigenous women, acknowledging the shared experiences of racism within the latter group.

Wash Away Your Sins: Indigenous and Irish Women in Magdalene Laundries and the Poetics of Errant Histories

The history of Magdalene laundries in Ireland is well-documented. Magdalene laundries also existed in the U.S., but their existence and impact are less widely known. In 1914, several young Indigenous women were sent from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to the House of the Good Shepherd in Reading, Pennsylvania as punishment for perceived behavioral infractions. Placing Indigenous and Irish women's experiences of forced confinement into conversation with one another, this article calls for a more capacious understanding of the legacy of the U.S. federal boarding school system and the carceral institutions that comprised the settler apparatus.

Legal Violence and the Gendered Necropolitics of Coloniality: Feminicide, Socioeconomic Marginalization, and Housing Rights Violations against Indigenous Women in Guatemala and Canada

This paper argues that feminicidal and sexual gender-based violence faced by Indigenous women in Guatemala and Canada is a cause and consequence of these states’ failure to effectively guarantee Indigenous women's intersecting socio-economic rights, namely their right to adequate housing. Exposing the historically-rooted, economic and political interests and investments of the two countries, this paper argues that Indigenous women's rights have been co-opted by legal violence in both contexts. Revealing the complicity of settler democratic states and the international human rights regime in sustaining these rights violations, this paper evidences Indigenous women's socio-economic marginalization, inadequate housing, and consequential feminicidal violence as the product of the gendered necropolitics of coloniality. Interrogating why and how these colonial genocidal structures sustain the subjugation of Indigenous women's bodies, this paper exposes how colonial genocidal structures have rendered Indigenous women illegible for protection under international human rights law. Highlighting a range of performative 1 attempts undertaken by the Guatemala and Canada to address the grave rights violations facing Indigenous women, this paper provides a feminist, decolonial framework that evidences why and how Indigenous women's experiences of socioeconomic marginalization, inadequate and unsafe housing, and the alarming rates of feminicidal and sexual gender-based violence continue to persist unabated.

Trapped within the logic of modernity/coloniality

AbstractBackgroundAcademic research is the site where the production and dissemination of knowledge are embedded in Eurocentric epistemologies which are posited as universal and non‐Eurocentric knowledges are devalued, dismissed, and ignored.ObjectivesThe goal was to explore the tensions that emerged between the Global North team and the Global South team, from the Global North's perspective.MethodsThis paper a collaborative autoethnography to trace how the logics' of coloniality of power structured a transnational research project focused on exploring Indigenous Women's experience of marginalization. The autoethnography involved engaging in critical reflexive auto‐interviews between the team members in the Global North, analyzing field notes and personal written reflections.ResultsAutoethnography revealed how colonial conditioning respectively shaped both—the Global North and the Global South teams' expectations of one another, and as such, how they each operationalized decoloniality in the research process.ConclusionThe Global North team focused on epistemically disengaging from coloniality but became overly concerned on meeting the expectations of the funder's temporally oriented productivity demands and ended up rearticulating coloniality's logics. The Global South was concerned with remedying the material dimensions of coloniality in their local community but became overly focused on adopting neoliberal logic models to efficiently satisfy the North's productivity expectations. Meaning, they, too, rearticulated coloniality's logics.

To pay, heal, and repair Mother Earth in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta: Experiences of indigenous women’s reparation in the implementation of the Colombian Peace Accord

This paper describes collaborative research with Wiwa and Arhuaco women concerning local reparations with an intersectional perspective on the Colombian post-conflict agreement. Our central argument is that indigenous women’s processes, experiences, and expectations of reparation reflect a wish to engage in a dialogue with the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) through its Works, Projects or Activities (TOAR) so that their perspectives on and complex conceptions of harm and reparation, as well as their relationship with social orders, bodies, and territory, can be recognized and considered in managing the risks of the revitalization of patriarchy during the post-accord period.

Indigenous women, multiple violences, and legal activism: Beyond the dichotomy of human rights as “law” and as “ideas for social movements”

AbstractThis review interrogates the divide between human rights “as ideas for social movements” and human rights “as law” that permeates the literature on human rights law and gender violence by putting it into conversation with the scholarship on Indigenous women's legal activism against the multiple forms of violence that they face. This divide obscures the ways in which Indigenous women across the Americas have appropriated and re‐signified the discourse and practice of human rights by engaging in formal legal processes at the community, domestic, and supranational levels. I problematize this dichotomy and argue that human rights “as ideas for social movements” and “as law” go hand in hand to challenge the multiple injustices affecting the lives of Indigenous women. This review invites sociologists to consider the experiences of Indigenous women's legal activism and its relationship to colonialism in their analyses of social movement dynamics and it contributes to decentering analyses on legal mobilization that are based on the global North.

Inequities in maternal stressful life events between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women – evidence from a prospective cohort study in New Zealand

ABSTRACT Experiences of major, stressful life events (SLE) prior to and during pregnancy, and in early childhood, are associated with a range of adverse outcomes that disproportionately impact Indigenous women and their families. However, little is known about Indigenous women's experiences of SLE . The aim of this study was to investigate: (1) inequities in the prevalence and patterning of SLE between Indigenous and non-Indigenous mothers over time, and; (2) associations between maternal SLE and ethnicity, age, socioeconomic deprivation and time. Data were from the Moe Kura prospective cohort study of 418 Indigenous Māori and 768 non-Māori women in New Zealand. Questionnaires were completed at 35–37 weeks gestation, 12-weeks postpartum, and when their child was 3–4 years of age. The prevalence of five SLE domains was estimated by ethnicity. Generalised linear mixed effects models examined associations between SLE domains and ethnicity, age, socioeconomic deprivation, and time. The prevalence of SLE was greater for Māori than non-Māori at each time point. The probability of reporting SLE increased as neighbourhood deprivation worsened. The probability of reporting SLE reduced with older age, although changes in the estimates were greater for non-Māori than Māori women. Findings show that Indigenous women experience persistent and significant inequities in SLE. Younger maternal age and greater socioeconomic deprivation explain some but not all of the inequities observed. Policies and interventions to address how colonialism and racism structure experiences of SLE for Indigenous women, including via socioeconomic deprivation, are required.

Vocational education and training for indigenous women in India: toward a participatory planning approach

ABSTRACT Indigenous women in India struggle to maintain their traditional knowledge, education and livelihoods in the face of colonization, neoliberalism and development. The paper analyzes the vocational education and skills training programmes implemented for indigenous women in India by the national government and local agencies. It considers the experiences of indigenous women from two different geographical locations and two distinct communities. The qualitative findings from the study indicate a mismatch between the requirements and desires of indigenous women and the policy objectives. By integrating self-determination into a subaltern framework, the paper suggests taking a participatory planning approach to VET for indigenous women. It brings attention to and draws practical suggestions for representation and inclusion of indigenous women in skills development.

Sexual Assault: Indigenous Women's Experiences of Not Being Believed by the Police.

Rates of sexual victimization among Indigenous women are 3 times higher when compared with non-Indigenous women. The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to explore the experiences and recommendations of Indigenous women who reported sexual assault to the police and were not believed. This qualitative study of the experiences of 11 Indigenous women reflects four themes. The women experienced (a) victimization across the lifespan, (b) violent sexual assault, (c) dismissal by police, and (d) survival and resilience. These women were determined to voice their experience and make recommendations for change in the way police respond to sexual assault.

“We’re not treated equally as Indigenous people or as women”: The perspectives and experiences of Indigenous women in Australian public relations

This paper argues that the public relations sphere needs to have better understanding and more representation and acknowledgment of Indigenous women’s contemporary experiences and contributions. Indigenous Australian women experience multiple oppressions, such as Eurocentric and patriarchal control and, within the broader areas of Indigenous, women’s, and feminist public relations scholarship, their voices are largely absent. To address these issues, this paper, based on Indigenous women’s standpoint theory and an Indigenous yarning method, presents the narratives of five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women employed in public relations. These narratives reflect experiences of marginalization by the Australian mainstream culture of whiteness and patriarchy; they also suggest the incidence of work induced mental distress for the women participants. This study of female Indigeneity within public relations aims to promote understanding of intersectional identities, the long-term effects of whiteness and racism, and may suggest how public relations can play a role in decolonizing efforts.

Mulheres Indígenas de Manaus: Construindo Políticas Afirmativas no SUS

O presente artigo tem como objetivo apresentar problematizações entre a atenção diferenciada no SUS e políticas afirmativas conquistadas pela ação de mulheres indígenas na cidade de Manaus, Amazonas. Desde a década de 1970, identificamos na Amazônia Brasileira, região de fértil pluralidade étnica, uma rede de relações de gênero sendo tecida no interior do movimento indígena mais ampliado, criando um saldo organizativo de participação social em ações comunitárias que culminaram nas lutas e conquistas pela consolidação da saúde indígena no SUS. À luz da psicologia sócio-histórica e suas interfaces com a antropologia, história e saúde coletiva, buscamos revalorizar experiências de mulheres indígenas na cidade de Manaus, evidenciando suas contribuições à saúde diferenciada no SUS articuladas a outras políticas afirmativas conquistadas, como o direito à cidade, ao trabalho, direito à cultura e o direito à educação.

Indigenous women's experiences of domestic and family violence, help‐seeking and recovery in regional Queensland

AbstractIndigenous women are disproportionately affected by the prevalence and severity of domestic and family violence (DFV) perpetrated by men against women in Australia. The impact of their experiences is further exacerbated by the level of social and cultural marginalisation affecting Indigenous communities, families and individuals along with regional, rural or remote living. The pervasive, ongoing impact of colonisation, dispossession and transgenerational trauma continues to shape the experiences of Indigenous women and their communities, including their help‐seeking decisions and opportunities, and their level of trust in and access to adequate and culturally sensitive support services. In this paper, we explore the experiences of Indigenous women affected by DFV in two regional Australian settings through face‐to‐face interviews with women (n = 13) and community stakeholders (n = 18). The findings of this study highlight the complex role of social and cultural marginalisation, spiritual (dis)connectedness and role of family as both a stressor and a protective factor. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Barriersto accessing maternal health care services in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: A qualitative descriptive study of Indigenous women's experiences.

Increased maternal health care (MHC) service utilisation in Bangladesh over the past decades has contributed to improvements in maternal health outcomes nationally, yet there is little understanding of Indigenous women's experiences of accessing MHC services in Bangladesh. Face-to-face semi-structured qualitative interviews with 21 Indigenous women (aged 15-49 years) within 36 months of delivery from three ethnic groups (Chakma, Marma and Tripura) were conducted between September 2017 and February 2018 in Khagrachhari district. Purposive sampling was used to recruit women representative of the population distribution in terms of age, ethnic community and service use experience. All interviews were conducted in Bangla language and audio-recorded with consent. Interviews were transcribed directly into English before being coded. Data were analysed thematically using a qualitative descriptive approach aided by NVivo12 software. Of the 21 women interviewed, 14 had accessed at least one MHC service during their last pregnancy or childbirth and were categorised as the User group. The remaining seven participants were categorised as 'Non-users' as they had not access antenatal care, facility delivery or postnatal care services. Women reported that they wanted culturally relevant, respectful, home-based and affordable care, and generally perceived formal MHC services as being only for complications and emergencies. Barriers to accessing MHC services included low levels of understanding about the importance of MHC services, concerns about service costs, limited transport and fears of intrusive practices. Experiences within health services that deterred women from accessing future MHC services included demands for unofficial payments and abusive treatment by public facility staff. Improving access to MHC services for the CHT Indigenous women requires improved understandings of cultural values, priorities and concerns. Multifaceted reform is needed at individual, community and health systems levels to offer culturally appropriate health education and flexible service delivery options.

Indigenous Australian women's experiences of participation in cervical screening.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (collectively, Indigenous Australian) women experience a higher burden of cervical cancer than other women. The National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP) is failing to meet the needs of Indigenous Australian women, resulting in many women not regularly participating in cervical screening. However, one third of Indigenous Australian women do participate in cervical screening. The reasons that some women in this population commence and continue to screen remain unheard but could provide insights to support women who currently do not participate. We aimed to describe Indigenous Australian women's experiences and views of participation in cervical screening by yarning (a culturally-appropriate interview technique) with 50 Indigenous Australian women aged 25-70 years who had completed cervical screening in the past five years, recruited via Primary Health Care Centres (PHCCs) from three jurisdictions. Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women researchers conducted the interviews. Thematic analysis identified six themes: screening as a means of staying strong and in control; overcoming fears, shame, and negative experiences of screening; needing to talk openly about screening; the value of trusting relationships with screening providers; logistical barriers; and overcoming privacy concerns for women employed at PHCCs. Despite describing screening as shameful, invasive, and uncomfortable, women perceived it as a way of staying healthy and exerting control over their health. This ultimately supported their participation and a sense of empowerment. Women valued open discussion about screening and strong relationships with health providers. We identified logistical barriers and specific barriers faced by women employed at PHCCs. This study is strengthened by a research approach that centred Indigenous Australian women's voices. Understanding the experiences of Indigenous Australian women who participate in screening will help screening providers support women to start and continue to screen regularly. Recommendations for practice are provided.

Gender differences among Indigenous Canadians experiencing homelessness and mental illness

BackgroundIndigenous people are over represented among homeless populations worldwide and the prevalence of Indigenous homelessness appears to be increasing in Canadian cities. Violence against Indigenous women in Canada has been widely publicized but has not informed the planning of housing interventions. Despite historical policies leading to disenfranchisement of Indigenous rights in gender-specific ways, little is known about contemporary differences in need between homeless Indigenous men and women. This study investigated mental health, substance use and service use among Indigenous people who met criteria for homelessness and mental illness, and hypothesized that, compared to men, women would have significantly higher rates of trauma, suicidality, substance dependence, and experiences of violence.MethodsThis study was conducted using baseline (pre-randomization) data from a multi-site trial. Inclusion in the current analyses was restricted to participants who self-reported Indigenous ethnicity, and combined eligible participants from Vancouver, BC and Winnipeg, MB. Logistic regression analyses were used to model the independent associations between gender and outcome variables.ResultsIn multivariable regression models among Indigenous participants (n = 439), female gender was predictive of meeting criteria for PTSD, multiple mental disorders, current high suicidality and current substance dependence. Female gender was also significantly associated with reported physical (AOR: 1.52, 95% CI = 1.10–2.23) and sexual (AOR: 6.31, 95% CI = 2.78–14.31) violence.ConclusionsOur analyses of Indigenous men and women who are homeless illustrate the distinct legacy of colonization on the experiences of Indigenous women. Our findings are consistent with the widely documented violence against Indigenous women in Canada. Housing policies and services are urgently needed that take Indigenous historical contexts, trauma and gender into account.Trial registrationThis trial has been registered with the International Standard Randomized Control Trial Number Register and assigned ISRCTN42520374; ISRCTN57595077; ISRCTN66721740.

African women and the wars of resistance and dispossession in the Cape Colony and Xhosaland in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

ABSTRACTThe eighteenth- and nineteenth-century colonial wars in the Cape Colony and trans-Keian territories in South Africa are usually represented as conflicts primarily involving male antagonists. The roles and experiences of indigenous women are usually overlooked or, at best, mentioned in passing. Closer examination of the wars that took place in what is now the Eastern Cape province of South Africa suggests that women were deeply affected by the various wars in a multitude of ways. They experienced first-hand death, disruption of their families and society, destruction of their homesteads and crops, and the looting of their livestock and other resources and were seized for forced labor. In the midst of the conflict, they developed different strategies to mitigate the effects of the wars and to survive, playing an active role in the wars as leaders, emissaries, and war doctors and in providing intelligence and commissariat support.

An Ethos of Responsibility and Indigenous Women Water Protectors in the #NoDAPL Movement

This work builds upon Elizabeth Archuleta’s (Yaqui) term “ethos of responsibility” by contextualizing it within the #NoDAPL movement and applies a cultural rhetorics methodology to constellate an understanding of an ethos of responsibility utilized by Indigenous women water protectors in the #NoDAPL movement, as seen in video-recorded interviews selected from the #NoDAPL digital archive. This study attempts to understand the rhetoric of Indigenous women water protectors through the lens of Indigenous feminism(s), Indigenous rhetoric(s), and Dakota/Lakota/Nakota history and worldviews. When speaking from an ethos of responsibility, the water protectors featured in this study locate agency in traditional teachings and in the experience of Indigenous women, including responsive care in/to the interconnectedness of life, the special role of women in the care of water, and the collective survival of Indigenous women in colonial and patriarchal violence.