“We’ve all been molested. Over and over, and raped. We were all molested and sexually abused as children, don’t you know that? We ran to get away. They didn’t want us in the house anymore. We were thrown out, thrown away. We’ve been on the street since we were 12, 13, 14.”
Survival sex is the term this short clip uses to describe aboriginal women working in the sex trades. Women currently living on reserves come far and wide to work the streets of Milton, a small community outside Ottawa, Ontario. With the Aboriginal communities being the population with the highest number of sex workers, it was important for the narrator of this video to outline why of the million female aboriginal Canadians, over half are more than likely going to turn to sex work to support themselves. Many of the issues are due to poverty, the government colonization of aboriginal communities, poor life quality on reserves and the horrendous effects of residential schools and the “60's scoop”.
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Between 1980-2012 over 1000 Indigenous women have been reported murdered, which is four times higher than any other group of women. With that, this statistic does not account for the missing Indigenous women within this time. Indigenous women and girls are at the highest risk for being murdered, to go missing or to be trafficked as a result of working within the sex trade. The government has only recently acknowledged this issue and has stated that they are going to take action to prevent further tragedies, however their effort is lacking. The history of Aboriginal sex work is the consequence of issues caused by the government that date back to colonization. Amnesty is working toward bringing to light the issue missing and murdered Indigenous women, a controversy that has been in the dark far to long.
Many of the women working the streets in the downtown east side of Vancouver are Aboriginal. Of these women, many if not all suffer from poverty, substance abuse, drug addiction, and poor life quality overall in the city and on the reserves. With a lack of education, job skills and support, many women leave their reserves and end up working on the streets in large cities such as Vancouver to support themselves and their families. Many of these women are on the streets as a way to survive, but others have been forced their by their spouses, parents or other family members for financial reasons. The reason why many aboriginal females end up working the streets in cities is less than complex. The colonization and marginalization of aboriginal peoples, as well as the breaking down of aboriginal culture by the use of residential schools, social isolation, discrimination and poverty have all played a huge role. With that, one can use this knowledge to explain why aboriginal women are one of the most prone to be murdered or to go missing, and are most vulnerable to violence, both physically/sexually and HIV.
The Government believes that over half of the women and girls in Canada being trafficked are Aboriginal peoples. Many women and girls end up within the sex trades due to poverty, lack of education, lack of a role model, no job skills and so much more. The sad reality of Aboriginal women and girls in the sex trade is those who do enter this violent world do not have another choice. This is a way of survival, a tool used by both themselves and their families. Hundreds of women go into the sex trade to support their families and themselves, whether it be for money, food, shelter or other reasons.The downtown east side women’s shelter is a welcoming institution for all women and girls who are in need of help. The shelter does not discriminate or turn anyone away who shows up at their door. The workers and residence here are accepting of all people regardless of their background and previous life choices. The shelter is a safe haven where women come for support, safety and strength. Violence against women in general is huge concern for the shelter, also women who suffer from poverty, lack of medical care, drug addict and much more. The shelter does not solely focus on Aboriginal women, but all women who have and are suffering from any sort of distress.The above link is to a Aboriginal victimization literature summary done by statistics Canada in 2004. The survey done revealed that over 40% of the female aboriginal population has been a victim to some of type of violent crime, in comparison to only 28% of the non-aboriginal Canadian female population. The summary outlines why Aboriginal women are three times more likely to be victimized and with that prone to criminal behaviour, much of it’s study is revolved around colonization, poverty, unsuitable reserve living, lack of education, job skills and capable guardian. Many, if not all of these factors leads to Aboriginal women going into the sex trade where so many become victims to violent crimes. |
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