The overwhelming number of sexually violent acts in the territory shows our current system of locking people up and labelling them as predators isnSA国际影视传媒檛 working.
In fact, these reports have become commonplace. A man sexually assaulted his cousin while she slept; a teenager was raped in her sleep by a man; a recent call by for victims of a man called SA国际影视传媒淧astor BradSA国际影视传媒� to come forwardSA国际影视传媒� each incident is abhorrent on its own, but the scale of this problem is staggering.
SA国际影视传媒淢ore remarkable is the fact that 96 per cent of lifetime sexual violence against Indigenous women is perpetrated by someone of another race. For Indigenous men, it is only slightly lower at 89 per cent. By contrast, perpetrators of sexual violence against white women and men are overwhelmingly intraracial at 91 per cent,SA国际影视传媒� according to a 2018 article by The Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies.
Results of a recent survey asking how safe women feel in Yellowknife taxis detailed 500 incidents where women felt SA国际影视传媒渦nsafe.SA国际影视传媒� Northern News Services first reported on the issue when women in the city took to Facebook to share their experiences after a woman posted on a local page about a taxi ride that left her shaken and scared to take taxis, other than with a single driver she trusts.
Women arenSA国际影视传媒檛 the only victims SA国际影视传媒� more than half of women and men in the NWT were sexually assaulted before the age of 15.
Janet Dean of the Status of Women Council of the NWT said the council has adopted a training curriculum developed by its Yukon counterpart that teaches cab drivers about consent, boundaries, appropriate communication, and how to create a respectful and safe environment for passengers.
A great start, we think SA国际影视传媒� proactive training like this could benefit workplaces of all ilks SA国际影视传媒� and the council isnSA国际影视传媒檛 the only group trying to get ahead of this sobering issue.
A man from Yellowknife was also spurred to action by the taxi survey. Last week he sent an email blast asking men to attend a meeting where they could write a letter reflecting the groupSA国际影视传媒檚 intentions for an SA国际影视传媒渁ction-oriented strategySA国际影视传媒� to address the overwhelming number of women who feel unsafe while taking taxis.
The group met on April 22, and although Northern News ServiceSA国际影视传媒檚 request for comment was not received by press time, we look forward to hearing more about this initiative.
The aforementioned 2018 Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership StudiesSA国际影视传媒� article, titled Ending Sexual Violence through Transformative Justice, makes the case that the common practice of punishing offenders through incarceration and social alienation doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 solve the problem SA国际影视传媒� actually, the article contends, it makes it worse.
SA国际影视传媒淭his hyper-focus on SA国际影视传媒榯he monstersSA国际影视传媒� does a disservice to all of us SA国际影视传媒� it severely limits our collective ability to accurately perceive warning signs of abuse. It immobilizes (abusers) from taking responsibility for their action out of a fear of being rejected and ostracized as monsters,SA国际影视传媒� the article states.
As Cherokee and anti-violence activist Andrea Smith pointed out in the article, SA国际影视传媒淪A国际影视传媒eliance on the criminal justice system to address gender violence would make sense if the threat were a few crazed men whom we can lock up.SA国际影视传媒�
If only it were so simple. Those who are labelled sexual predators are isolated from society and deemed monsters, which only obscures why sexual violence happens in the first place; it also makes the problem worse.
So, to start to fix the problem, we have to treat offenders as human beings rather than monsters.
We can offer supports for people dealing with sexual assault but what we really need, in addition, is a system that offers healing to perpetrators of sexual violence. That may seem like a tough pill to swallow for people whoSA国际影视传媒檝e experienced sexualt assault SA国际影视传媒� how is it fair that someone who violated someone so completely, not be punished? In fact, ideas like restorative or transformative justice donSA国际影视传媒檛 jive with our idea of what justice is, at all. Many of us want the people who hurt us to hurt, too.
This kind of justice calls for a punishment that matches the crime and is inseparable from our understanding of what justice actually means.
The saying SA国际影视传媒渉urt people hurt peopleSA国际影视传媒� rings true. We have a problem that the courts and stretches in prison donSA国际影视传媒檛 seem to fix. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 time to heal these wounds at the source.
