Decoste, Eloise - Systemic discrimination and indigenous women in Canada

6 both on the view that the humanity of Indigenous peoples was less than that of the European and that the only proper place for women was under the dominion of men.34 Moreover, the reproductive ability of Indigenous women and their role as culture bearers endangered the continued success of the settler colonialism.35 Attacking the social status of Indigenous women was a way for the settler state. [...] Some of the Act’s oppressive restrictions were removed from the law.39 The main modification with regards to ‘status’ was the creation of the registration system that enabled a centralized record of those entitled to registration (and to receipt of federal benefits) as ‘Indians’.40 The introduction of the registration system further reinforced the exclusion of women and their descendants.41 Under. [...] The legislative modification was a result of concomitant factors, including the ratification by Canada of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women44 in 1981 and the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,45 which enshrined the right to equality into the Constitution.46 Most importantly, the changes came after more than two decad. [...] Their activism led to a recommendation in the final report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada in 1970 for the immediate amendment of the Indian Act to repeal the sections that discriminate on the basis of sex so that Indigenous women and men can enjoy equal rights. [...] 15 translates into a lack of trust in the healthcare system and, ultimately, must be viewed as a determinant of the health of Indigenous women.75 Sustained by the stereotypes used to validate the imposition of the Victorian model of family, which was premised on the disenfranchisement of Indigenous women, the delegitimization of Indigenous motherhood served in turn to justify the removal of Indige.