The United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people is calling attention to the violence faced by indigenous women and asking that peace treaties protect the vulnerable population.
As the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues comes to a close, indigenous representatives and U.N. officials are reflecting on the choices that must be made in order to ensure the safety of indigenous communities and ecosystems. The 15th session of the Forum ran from May 9 to May 20 with a focus on the theme: “Indigenous peoples: conflict, peace and resolution.”
During the Forum there was a focus on the violence faced by indigenous women around the world. The U.N.’s special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people said that indigenous women face the majority of violence in conflict zones. Fox News first reported on the statements.
Victoria Tauli Corpuz, the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, on Tuesday painted a devastating picture of the plight of indigenous women in conflicts, where fighting often leaves indigenous people caught between opposing armies that tend to disrespect their rights and often use sexual violence as a weapon.
Corpuz said she hoped that in the future peace treaties could include clauses about the rights of women as well as the cultural and lands rights of indigenous peoples.
Corpuz is correct in her assessment. Women, specifically indigenous women, have long been the victims of rape, kidnapping, and murder. This problem has become increasingly evident in Canada where activists have been attempting to garner public attention regarding the large number of missing indigenous women.
NetNewsLedger reports that indigenous women in Canada are close to three times more likely than non-indigenous women to be a victim of a violent crime. Around 1,100 indigenous women are estimated to have been murdered or missing since 1980. The lack of accountability from the government has led to the creation of an independent database of murdered and missing indigenous women.
A 2015 report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which blamed the Canadian government on federal and provincial levels for failing “to adequately prevent and protect Indigenous women and girls from killings, disappearances, and extreme forms of violence.” Reuters called the report “damning”.
Meghan Rhoad of Human Rights Watch stated, “The commission’s report shows that the international community cares about the lives of Indigenous women and girls. So does the Canadian public. The government should do the same.”
On the final day of the Forum, Corpuz also participated in a panel called “Access to Justice: Indigenous Women in Conflict and Peace.” The panel also included Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, Vice-Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (Mali); and Rosalina Tuyuc, Founder of the National Association of Guatemalan Widows. The women are leading the charge to secure international recognition of the dangers faced by indigenous women and their families.
On Thursday, Alvaro Esteban Pop Ac, Chair of the Forum, spoke at the UN headquarters in New York City. Pop spoke about the need for indigenous peoples to participate in UN conversations regarding “sustainable development” targets. The Associated Press reports:
Chairman of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Alvaro Pop said Thursday that his group was considering whether to ask the U.N. to create a new category equivalent to observer status in order to ensure the representation of indigenous people at the highest level.
Only two entities, the Palestinians and the Vatican, currently have observer status at the U.N.
Forum members said that while indigenous people are not a state, they are also more than just a non-governmental organization and they deserve greater representation with in the U.N.
Although the involvement of State authorities on the global scale could lead to more bureaucracy and stagnation, at the very least it should serve as a wake-up call to those who were unaware of the danger faced by indigenous communities. Unfortunately, the State’s ideas of “sustainability” are rarely truly sustainable, but instead serve to displace indigenous communities and empower corporate entities. Indigenous communities all over the planet should push for recognition as sovereign entities capable of making their own decisions and worthy of respect. Until that point, we will only have a hollow version of true freedom and equity.
Derrick Broze is an investigative journalist and liberty activist. He is the Lead Investigative Reporter for ActivistPost.com and the founder of the TheConsciousResistance.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Derrick is available for interviews.
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Oh, surprising. No replacement migration like in Europe to ensure a golden future?
Meanwhile, U.N. soldiers are busy raping indigenous women.
What about indigenous GERMAN WOMEN being raped and molested by MUSLIM MEN? What about indigenous U.K. WOMEN being sexually exploited by Muslim males? WHAT OF THEM U.N.???
Oh yeah, that’s right: you U.N. fellas caused all these problems with your globalist “multi-culturalism” rhetoric.
It’s all completely disgusting, what TPTB are doing. Yet most people don’t understand it and when you try to explain you’re a bigot.
God sees all and knows our hearts. Everything will be righteously balanced in the end.
I’m waiting for them to call for blue helmeted UN troops to protect female students at Berkley, Missouri, Harvard, Yale, Emory, etc. from microaggression and insufficient safe spaces.
How hypocritical of the UN whose vaccine programs maim and kill indigenous women all over the world while their “peacekeeping” forces routinely rape and impregnate them.
Perhaps the U.N. can name former pres. Bill Clinton to head up this movement.