Examining the Exploitation and Abuse of Indigenous Women Worldwide

Examining The Exploitation and Abuse of Indigenous Women Worldwide

Globalization is a complex set of global flows and processes which are ever increasingly moving towards more intense forms of global connectivity (Steger 9). The topic of whether globalization is overall beneficial or detrimental is one that is contested by many scholars across the world. Some are considered to be globalization optimists, who advocate for the spread of “democracy” through neoliberal policies and the expansion of free-trade markets, as well as global consumer culture (Steger 77). This view tends to embrace the homogenizing nature of globalization, and proponents of this view are typically more economically, socially, and politically privileged members of the global North (i.e. First World/developed nations, such as the U.S.). In this sense, homogenization refers to processes of the expansion of sameness, and/or erasure of difference (Campbell et al. 282). Globalization optimists are also often associated with supporting concepts such as “Westernization,” and/or “Americanization,” which are seen to push the adoption of Western political, economic, and social norms and ideals, such as that of the United States of America, upon non-Western societies (Campbell et al. 4). Contrastingly, there is opposition to this optimistic view of globalization, known as globalization pessimists. Globalization pessimists agree that the overall effects of globalization are homogenizing, but disagree with the idea that this is a positive aspect. Pessimists believe that the expansion of Western ideals through the processes of globalization reinforces oppressive systems of cultural imperialism, which can be defined as local cultural phenomena from that of less powerful societies being largely replaced by the products, practices, and values of the hegemonic Western culture (Steger 76; Campbell et al. 19).

 In her article Globalization as Racialized, Sexualized Violence, author Rauna Kuokkanen is a proponent for the latter view of globalization. Kuokkanen argues that the effects of economic globalization in particular are especially harmful to women within indigenous communities around the world. She also points to the the history of colonialism, and its interaction with processes of globalization, as being responsible for sustaining cultural imperialist violence against indigenous women. By analyzing the intersectional oppressions encountered through marginalization on the basis of both race and gender, Kuokkanen highlights the unique experience of indigenous women as they suffer disproportionately from the effects of globalization. Kuokkanen’s article on globalization as racialized, sexualized violence upon indigenous women illustrates a prime example of the detrimental consequences of cultural imperialism in postcolonial societies, as they face forces of exploitation and abuse from the dominant economic agenda. 

Through the processes of economic globalization, the existence of indigenous peoples, and especially indigenous women, is continuously marginalized and exploited. As Kuokkanen asserts, 

Trade liberalization and export-oriented development involving exploitation of natural resources by multinational corporations on indigenous peoples’ territories often further marginalize indigenous peoples and undermine indigenous peoples’ inherent right to self determination (216).   

Projects associated with development, such as mining, logging, and oil exploration, often involve environmental degradation and exploitation. This degradation is frequently carried out on indigenous lands, which impedes upon the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain their own cultural, social, environmental, and economic subsistence. Due to astronomical rates of consumption, the global economic system requires continuous supply of natural resources in order to maintain its growth, which is not an environmentally sustainable practice. Furthermore, these natural resources, many of which are primarily located on indigenous lands, are extracted and depleted without regard to the rights of the indigenous communities (Kuokkanen 217). One of the five major claims identified by Steger that reoccurs among discourses between advocates of market globalism is that it is beneficial to everyone (108). The problem with this claim is that these advocates fail to realize that the supposed benefits of trade liberalization are not equally distributed, and there is a significant gap in the welfare and wealth of populations within the global South (i.e. Third World/developing nations), such as Indonesia (Steger 112-115). The global economy is dependent on cheap labor and the extraction of natural resources from these developing countries, but the indigenous communities and laborers do not reap any of the benefits of their efforts. This is especially true for women in these areas. In addition to the rise of global economic restructuring contributing to the exploitation of indigenous lands and resources, it also has expanded the exploitation of indigenous women’s bodies (Kuokkanen 219). An example of this is the dependence on cheap, low wage labor of women in countries like China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, such as in sweatshops and factories. Indigenous women’s bodies are also exploited through the sex industry, which is described by Kuokkanen as “an integral part of the globalized economy” (221). 

Racism, too, plays into this exploitation of indigenous women within the sex industry, as they are often fetishized and exotified. This racist hegemonic representation and discourse of indigenous women as “exotic” hypersexualized beings nods to Edward Said’s concept of orientalism, which refers to the stereotyped identity of people from the Middle East as defined by dominant Western ideological forces. It also contributes to the discourse of indigenous women as “disposable” through their erasure, reinforcing the acceptance of violence against them. This process of erasure and stereotyping is a direct example of cultural imperialism. In her book Justice and the Politics of Difference, Iris Marion Young defines cultural imperialism as one of the five faces of oppression. She states,

The culturally dominated undergo a paradoxical oppression, in that they are both marked out by stereotypes and at the same time rendered invisible. As remarkable, deviant beings, the culturally imperialized are stamped with essence. The stereotypes confine them to a nature which is often attached in some way to their bodies, and which thus cannot easily be denied. These stereotypes so permeate the society that they are not noticed as contestable (59).

This quote exemplifies the point made by Kuokkanen in relation to the link between colonialism and violence against indigenous peoples; postcolonial consequences on indigenous communities involve “dispossession of lands and livelihoods, abuse experienced in residential schools and assimilationist and racist policies seeking to erase identities and cultures” (220). This results in indigenous women being forced into conditions of danger and vulnerability, such as poverty, homelessness, and prostitution. This is not only true of indigenous peoples in North America, but also many places around the world in which aboriginal communities have suffered colonization. Because they are disproportionately victims of sexual exploitation, indigenous women are additionally more likely to become victims of sexual violence (Kuokkanen 219). Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which are private organizations which operate without the presence or representation of government, are taking steps to address international violence against indigenous women (Campbell et al. 76). One NGO taking an initiative on the issue is Amnesty International, who has released an international campaign aiming to put an end to such violence (Kuokkanen 219). The campaign identifies one of its main concerns to be the “heightened threat of violence created by the social and economic marginalization of indigenous women” (Kuokkanen 219). This points to colonialism as a means of systematically marginalizing indigenous women, which is compounded today through processes of economic globalization. 

Colonialism can be directly linked to current forms of neoliberal, capitalist economic globalization. For instance, the United States was built upon land stolen from Native Americans. Today, due to neoliberal global consumerist demands, the existence of the United States is heavily reliant on the continuous exploitation of natural resources within Native lands. Furthermore, as a result of capitalistic ideals such as the privatization of public services, indigenous women are disproportionately negatively impacted (Kuokkanen 220). The systemically oppressive nature of colonialism is not some distant period of time in history, but rather an ongoing “constant necessary condition of capitalism” (Kuokkanen 221). In order for wealth and capital to accumulate, permanent relations of exploitation, domination, and violence must be created and maintained by the hegemonic forces (Kuokkanen 222). As articulated by Kuokkanen, 

If the contemporary sociopolitical and economic system requires hierarchical, exploitative gender relations and an asymmetric sexual division of labour, the current global economic order driven by profit has only intensified the exploitation and structures of violence (222).

When we talk about violence against indigenous women, we must acknowledge that while individual acts of physical violence are carried out and even accepted as a result of the erasure and devaluing of indigenous women through methods of cultural imperialism, systemic violence is also carried out largely by the patriarchal neoliberal state. The two types of violence are also very connected to one another through ideologies of force and subordination. These legacies of colonialism, maintained and reinforced by contemporary global capitalist practices and ideologies, overall contribute to the exploitation, and abuse of indigenous women on a global scale. In response, Kuokkanen calls for more women in more privileged countries and positions to “examine [their] participation in global capitalism that directly contributes to the exploitation of indigenous women...in more vulnerable regions and situations such as the global South” (230). We must push forward in our efforts to make these violences and exploitations visible on a global scale in order for real systemic change to occur. 

References Cited

Campbell, Patricia J., et al. An Introduction to Global Studies. 1st ed., Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 

Kuokkanen, Rauna. “Globalization as Racialized, Sexualized Violence.” International Feminist Journal of Politics, vol. 10 no. 2, June 2008, p. 216-233.

Steger, Manfred B. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, 2013.

Young, Iris Marion, and Danielle Allen. Justice and the Politics of Difference. 2nd ed., Princeton Press, 2011.