[Wamvan] Fwd: Indigenous Women's Declaration - July 6, 2011.Indigenous women are invited to sign on & non-Indigenous women invited to sign on In Solidarity

[Tami Starlight]

Pretty good stuff and I would argue some of the narrow views regarding sex
work because prostitution is not all that exists in this world.

Abolitionists love this sort of stuff and a number of them helped the AWAN
develop this.

Cut through the rhetoric!

Thanks
Tami

On Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 10:46 AM, Natalie Hill <nhill10 at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Aboriginal Women's Action Network <awan.bc at gmail.com>
> Date: Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 11:31 AM
> Subject: Indigenous Women's Declaration - July 6, 2011.Indigenous women are
> invited to sign on & non-Indigenous women invited to sign on In Solidarity
> To: nhill10 at gmail.com
>
>
>
> http://www.facebook.com/notes/aboriginal-womens-action-network/declaration-presented-by-awan-members-cherry-smiley-fay-blaney-at-womens-worlds-/10150229870221691
>
> *Indigenous Women's Declaration*
> July 6, 2011.
>
> As Indigenous women living on occupied territories now known as Canada, who
> have survived over 500 years of attempted genocide, we declare:
>
> 1. We, Indigenous women, will not allow anyone or anything to break the
> ties that bind us. Despite the impacts of colonialism - the racism, sexism,
> poverty and violence that pervade our lives and communities, working to
> divide us both inside and out - we are profoundly aware of our connected
> ness to each other as women, to our ancestors, and to our lands. No man,
> men, or external force will ever ultimately sever these ties.
>
> 2. Our analysis of prostitution as a form of violence against women and as
> a system of colonialism is the result of over five centuries of resistance
> stories, stories told to us by our Grandmothers, who have retold the stories
> of their Grandmothers, who have retold the stories of their Grandmothers.
> This analysis is based on our own life experiences, on the life experiences
> of our mothers, our sisters, and all our relations. It is based on theory
> and knowledge constructed collectively by Indigenous women.
>
> 3. Purposeful legal tolerance of prostitution and pornography, as with the
> Indian Act and the residential school system, was and is an external
> colonial system imposed on Indigenous women and girls in continued attempts
> to harm and destroy us.
>
> 4. We, Indigenous women, reject the racist assumption that prostitution was
> ever part of our traditional practices. We denounce the idea that we are
> objects to be bought and sold.
>
> 5. We, Indigenous women, reject the capitalism that has resulted in the
> theft and destruction of our homelands and our environment. We reject the
> International capitalism and greed that also drives the “sex industry”, an
> industry that regards Indigenous women and girls as objects to be sold at
> the highest price, should we survive the transaction. We reject the colonial
> terminology of “sex work”, as it hides the racist, sexist, and classist
> realities of prostitution. “Sex work” masks the violence that our sisters
> struggle against on a daily basis and repackages that violence as a form of
> freely chosen labour.
>
> 6. We, Indigenous women, reject the imposition of patriarchy, which has had
> devastating and deadly effects for Indigenous women and girls. We face male
> violence within our own families and communities, and often we are pushed
> out of these very communities seeking safety. We are forced to migrate into
> cities where we continue to face physical, emotional, and sexual violence at
> the hands of men, including at the hands of johns, pimps, brothel owners,
> and traffickers. We demand a return to our traditional values that place
> women and girls in high esteem.
>
> 7. The Nordic model of state policy will give Indigenous women and girls
> the best chance of not only survival, but life. This model includes law
> reform that criminalizes the male demand for paid sex and decriminalizes
> prostituted women, offers comprehensive social programs to all women and
> girls, and educates the public about prostitution as a form of male violence
> against women and girls. We, Indigenous women, believe this model encourages
> true social change that works in our interest.
>
> 8. We, Indigenous women, reject the total decriminalization and/or
> legalization of prostitution as an acceptable solution to sexual violence.
> The total decriminalization and/or legalization of prostitution only
> encourages the racist and deadly male demand for access to the bodies of
> women and girls, with Indigenous women and girls being disproportionately
> targeted.
>
> 9. We, Indigenous women, reject the patriarchal, colonial, and capitalist
> male perception that our sole worth is as sexual objects. We recognize that
> prostitution and pornography, incest, physical and sexual assault, and
> murder exist on a continuum of male violence and hatred toward Indigenous
> women and girls. The tragic outcome of that hatred is the over 580
> documented cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in
> Canada.
>
> 10. We, Indigenous women and girls, have survived over 500 years of attacks
> on our cultures, our bodies, our lands, and our lives. We refuse to abandon
> our future generations to the colonial sexist violence that is prostitution
> and we demand an immediate end to the male demand for paid sex.
>
>
> *All Indigenous Women - First Nations, Inuit, Metis - who are in agreement
> with this Declaration are invited to sign on as individual endorsers or
> organizations. You can contact us at awan.bc at gmail.com to do so.*
>
> **Update: Due to demand we are compiling a solidarity list for non native
> women and orgs to sign in support of the declaration**
>
>
>
>
>
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>


-- 
Meegwetch/Thank you/Merci
*Tami M. Starlight*
Vancouver, Canada
tamistarlight at gmail.com
tami.cosmic (facebook)
tami_starlight (twitter)
cosmictami (skype)
604-200-2445home
604-790-9943cell
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