scholarly journals First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Women's Health: A Rights-Based Approach

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Boyer

The health status of Aboriginal women in Canada is disparagingly low as compared to the non-Aboriginal population. The implementation of male centred legislation, policies, and institutions that are the hallmark of Canada’s colonial history have had a long-lasting impact on the health of Aboriginal women. Although Aboriginal women have unique sets of constitutionally protected rights, the government has failed to protect these rights.The purpose of this article is to present a constitutional and human rights-based approach to address constitutionally protected rights within the context of a distinctive Indigenous appreciation of social rights and of women’s substantive equality. This article is separated into three sections. First, using data from federal government and the Native Women’s Association of Canada statistics, the health status of Aboriginal women is examined. Many international instruments and agreements recognize a rights-based approach to health. Canada, as a signatory to a number of these agreements, has acknowledged its international obligations towards the health of Aboriginal people. Two of these agreements, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, provide the human rights standards that bind Canada with regard to all Canadians and are examined in the second section. The last section suggests that a constitutional equality rights framework may offer a promising basis for future right to health assertions by Aboriginal women. Through an analysis of both collective and individual rights of Aboriginal women to health, section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it becomes apparent that Canada is in breach of its constitutional obligations.

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 395
Author(s):  
Michelle Bovill ◽  
Catherine Chamberlain ◽  
Yael Bar-Zeev ◽  
Maree Gruppetta ◽  
Gillian S. Gould

Smoking during pregnancy is a national priority to improve Aboriginal health. Empowerment approaches underpin the priorities set by the government to improve Aboriginal health and wellbeing; however, empowerment is seldom evaluated within interventions for Aboriginal people. Literature was searched to April 2018 and data was extracted using an assessment tool with domains of individual and community empowerment in smoking cessation during pregnancy studies with Aboriginal women. Three interventions were found in published and grey literature. Elements of individual empowerment were embedded in all interventions. Interventions considered barriers for Aboriginal women to quit smoking and areas for capacity building. Interventions used health education resources. There was limited reporting of community empowerment domains. Aboriginal ethics and capacity building was the only criterium addressed by all studies. Interventions are incorporating individual empowerment, but seldom report community empowerment. The development of reporting guidelines or extensions of current guidelines would be beneficial to set a consistently high standard reporting across Aboriginal health interventions, similar to the work conducted to develop the extension of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-Equity (PRISMA-E) for health equity in systematic review reporting. Reporting empowerment domains would reflect the government priority of empowerment to improve Aboriginal health, as well as enhancing knowledge translation into practice.


1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Suarez

The Australian legal system is based on the principle of equality before the law for all its citizens. The government of Australia also passed the international Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act in 1986, although these rights are not accessible to all Australians in the legal system (Bird 1995:3). The Australian legal system has failed to grant equality for all its people. The Aboriginal community is severely disadvantaged within the legal system because the Australian criminal justice system has “institutionalised discrimination” against Aboriginal people through communication barriers (Goldflam 1995: 29).


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 596-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neilan S. Chaturvedi ◽  
Orlando Montoya

AbstractOf the 45 Muslim majority countries in the world, 42 have signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. While this does indeed signal a motive to improve women's rights, there is wide disparity in terms of which countries expand rights and which do not. Social science literature suggests that in addition to economic factors like wealth and oil resources, or political factors like the quality of democracy in the country, Islamic culture may be at odds with the Western conception of women's rights. We posit that Muslim countries are unique in this regard due to religious pressures that often conflict with conventional measures of human rights. Using data from the Cingranelli-Richards Human Rights Dataset and the Religion and State Project, we find that Muslim countries that restrict the influence of fundamentalist religion in the government and population improve women's economic and social rights.


2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy Blackstock

Many child welfare statutes protect children when caregivers jeopardise their safety and best interests, but what if the risk is sourced in government child welfare policy or practice? Instead of including provisions to hold governments accountable for placing children in harm's way, governments and their agents are largely protected against any systemic maltreatment claims made against them. This paper describes a precedent-setting case before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal attempting to hold the Canadian federal government accountable for its systemic failure to ensure that First Nations children are protected from maltreatment linked to inequitable federal child welfare funding on reserves. The case is a rare example using an independent judicial mechanism with the authority to make binding orders against the government and enveloping the proceedings in a public education and engagement movement. Implications of the case for child rights in Canada and abroad are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Buhmann

China's economic engagement in Africa has been subject to criticism on social and environmental fronts. This analysis examines two sets of guidelines launched by the government-related China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals. Aiming to promote responsible investment in the minerals sector and due diligence to ensure socially responsible sourcing of minerals with a particular focus on human rights, the guidelines refer to international human rights standards and are designed to be consistent with guidance issued by the OECD. The article discusses the Chinese guidelines as responses to the international critique and concludes they are elements of China's soft-power efforts meant to enhance the country's reputation as a responsible actor on the global stage. The analysis comes from the perspective of China's deployment of state-driven corporate social responsibility (CSR), its complex relationship with international human rights, and its engagement with the international business and human rights (BHR) regime.


Author(s):  
Rochelle Garner ◽  
Eric Guimond ◽  
Sacha Senécal

Using data from the 2006 Census, this study examines the socio-economic characteristics of First Nations and non-Aboriginal teenage mothers, and compares these to those of non-teenage mothers in a cohort of women aged 25 to 29 years old. Results indicated that First Nations women were more likely than non-Aboriginal women to be teenage mothers. In general, teenage mothers were less likely to have graduated high school, more likely to live in overcrowded housing, and in a home in need of major repair. Furthermore, teenage mothers had lower household incomes after adjusting for the composition the household. Characteristics also differed significantly between First Nations and non-Aboriginal women, as well as between Registered Indian women living on- and off-reserve.


2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron S Phillips

In January 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal released its decision regarding the provision of Child and Family Services to First Nations living on reserves and the Yukon. The Tribunal found that the government of Canada had discriminated against First Nations children on the basis of their race. Many of the arguments made by the government of Canada to describe their actions in the provision of First Nations child and family services can be easily transferred to the provision of First Nations education programs and services to First Nations children throughout Canada. This article has replaced child and family services terms and phrases with education terms and phrases in the decision. Hopefully, the federal government of Canada will see the futility of fighting First Nations in education as they did in child and family services. It is time to provide First Nations students on reserves a comprehensive system of education.


Author(s):  
Jennifer King ◽  
Jocelyn Wattam ◽  
Cindy Blackstock

Consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, this paper describes children’s involvement in a historic human rights case that found the government of Canada guilty of racially discriminating against 163,000 First Nations children. Despite Canada’s efforts to discourage and bar young people from participating, children and youth were among the first and most engaged followers of the case, debunking the myth that children “can’t” or “shouldn’t” participate in legal matters. Children and youth who participate in social change activities benefit greatly from the experience, as do their communities. The participation of children and youth in the First Nations child welfare case demonstrates that young people are truly leaders in reconciliation and social justice; they teach us about how change really happens. Adults have a responsibility to facilitate exciting and creative ways to involve children in the social and legal processes that impact their lives.


Author(s):  
Eka Januar

The birth of Qanun number 17 of 2013 concerning the Aceh Truth and Reconciliation Commission is the result of a derivative of Law number 11 of 2006 concerning the Government of Aceh (UUPA), which is a derivative of the result of the Helsinki Peace Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Republic of Indonesia (RI) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on August 15, 2005 in Helsinki, Finland. This paper discusses the opportunities for the Acehnese Conflict Survivors/Victims Association as Social Capital in the existence of Qanun number 17 of 2013 to settle the fulfillment of the rights of victims of human rights violations that occurred in Aceh in the period 1976-2005. This type of research is a qualitative research. The process of collecting data using the method of observation of the object of research related to the one being studied, interviews starting from listening, arranging words, and summarizing the results of the interviews without losing the substance of the information conveyed by the informants. The data analysis technique in this study used descriptive techniques using data reduction. The results of this study indicate that from its journey, especially after the Aceh Peace, SPKP-HAM Aceh was present in various issues related to human rights violations during the Aceh conflict, especially after the Aceh peace. The birth of Qanun number 17 of 2013 was a part of the SPKP-HAM advocacy with other institutions as well as Acehnese students in 2010 during the occupation of the Aceh DPR building. Furthermore, various issues regarding the fulfillment of the rights of victims of human rights violations, this organization also criticizes government policies that do not take sides with victims of conflict.


Author(s):  
Ian Leigh

This article discusses the legal framework within which security and intelligence agencies operate in the United Kingdom. It first discusses the legislative charters of the three main agencies. Following the discussion on the legislative charters of the Security Service (M15), the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or M16), and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the article discusses the accountability these three agencies to the ministers, Parliament, and the judiciary. The article concludes with a discussion on the significant impact of human rights standards upon the agencies's work and current and future trends.


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