SEEKING JUSTICE panel discussion: A National Call for an Public Inquiry for the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women. Featuring speakers: Sharon McIvor, Maria Jacko, and Yasmin Jiwani
Held Friday Oct 29, 2010
Lamoureux Hall room 122, University of Ottawa
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Are Canadians complacent and complicit on the issue of the Indigenous Murdered and Missing women? Does Media play a role in perpetuating stereotypes about Indigenous women? Do media cultivate indifference because of the lack of critical and investigative reporting? What are the International Human Rights violations of Indigenous women? What are the challenges families, mother’s face when police do not take the investigations seriously? Are Indigenous women merely a political scapegoat by politicians because they do not believe a National public enquiry is necessary? Seeking Justice; A National Call for a Public Inquiry on the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women will be a lively discussion that will provoke you to action to support Indigenous women in their plight for a National Call for a Public Inquiry in Canada .
SHARON MCIVOR:
Sharon has devoted her life to improving the conditions of Aboriginal women, and all women in Canada. Sharon is a member of the Lower Nicola Band in British Columbia , a practicing lawyer, and a Professor of Aboriginal Law at Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. She has spent over two decades fighting to end sex discrimination under the status provisions of the Indian Act. At the same time she has been tireless in her work to end violence against Aboriginal women.
MARIA JACKO:
Maria Jacko’s niece Maisy Odjick, along with Maisy’s friend Shannon Alexander went missing together on Sept 6 2008 from Kitigan Zibi, unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin territory, 135km north of Ottawa in Quebec. They were 16 and 17 years of age, respectively, at the time, and have not been since since. For more info, please see www.findmaisyandshannon.com
YASMIN JIWANI:
Yasmin Jiwani is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University , Montreal . Her publications include: Discourses of Denial: Mediations of Race, Gender and Violence, as well as a co-edited collection titled: Girlhood, Redefining the Limits. Yasmin is also a co-founder of RACE, Researchers and Academics of Colour for Equity, a Canadian based organization. Her work has appeared in various journals and anthologies. Her research interests include mediations of race, gender and violence in the context of war stories, femicide reporting in the press and representations of women of colour in popular television. In 2006, she co-wrote an article tracing Aboriginal women’s representations in The Vancouver Sun. That article is available and can be accessed at: at www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/download/1825/1932 … Email: yasmin.jiwani@gmail.com … Webpage: http://coms.concordia.ca/faculty/jiwani.html
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This event was part of Indigenous Sovereignty Week 2010 in Ottawa, Oct27-Nov4 – for full details please see www.bit.ly/iswottawa
Organized by: Defenders of the Land; Indigenous Environmental Network; Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa (IPSMO); Bolivia Action Solidarity Network; MiningWatch; Project of Heart; Public Service Alliance of Canada
Sponsors: Canadian Union of Public Employees; Public Service Alliance of Canada; Canadian Union of Postal Workers; OPIRG/GRIPO-Ottawa; PSAC NCR Aboriginal Action Circle; PSAC National Women’s Department; CUPE Local 4600 (at Carleton University); Carleton University Graduate Students Association; PROMdemonium Fund; Canada Council for the Arts
Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa 