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Social Science Native American Studies

Black Eyes All of the Time

Intimate Violence, Aboriginal Women, and the Justice System

by (author) Brenda Comaskey & Anne McGillivray

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Nov 1999
Category
Native American Studies, Marriage, Women's Studies
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802080615
    Publish Date
    Nov 1999
    List Price
    $44.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802042064
    Publish Date
    Nov 1999
    List Price
    $77.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442671430
    Publish Date
    Jul 2004
    List Price
    $97.00

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Description

A decade ago, a landmark study by Indian law affairs specialist Rupert Ross suggested that alternative methods of crime prevention based on traditional Aboriginal values would lower crime rates in Native communities. Since then, reform measures that have been implemented have resulted in fewer criminal charges, less vigorous prosecution, and shorter jail terms for Aboriginal offenders. Unfortunately, such research and reforms have often failed to address two groups greatly hurt by criminal violence: women and children.

The impetus for this book arose out of a 1995 Winnipeg study involving twenty-six Aboriginal women. The compelling accounts these women give of the domestic violence they experienced, first as children and later as wives and mothers, make it all too clear that any plan to implement diversionary reforms must first take into account this under-represented group. For survivors of domestic violence, jail terms for abusers allow time for healing, and the threat of criminal prosecution may quell violent outbreaks. Lax responses from an inconsistent criminal justice system often put Native women at risk.

Drawing on the experiences and views of the women affected, Black Eyes All of the Time analyses how this pervasive cycle of violence evolved and suggests possible solutions involving both the dominant Canadian justice system and Aboriginal traditions.

About the authors

Brenda Comaskey is a research associate at RESOLVE (Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse) at the University of Manitoba.

Brenda Comaskey's profile page

Anne McGillivray is a professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba.

Anne McGillivray's profile page