Helpful or harmful? The road to rethinking approaches in addressing domestic violence against Indigenous women in Canada

Abstract

Domestic violence is a widespread public health issue in which Canada’s health and legal systems address with a one size fits all approach. For Indigenous women experiencing DV, the trauma as a result of colonization is an added layer of oppression that must be considered by DV response services. The purpose of this research project is to explore how current approaches intended to support Indigenous women facing DV may in fact be inflicting further colonial harm. Due to the colonial context of this research, a decolonizing framework is used to challenge western academic practices and avoid cultural appropriation and misrepresentation. It was found that current legal and health services have a gap in their ability to meet the culturally specific and individual needs of the various Indigenous communities in Canada. Further research led by Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars is required to explore additional culturally safe approaches to DV, and how they can be implemented into Canada’s legal and health systems