On International Women's Day IWGIA stands in solidarity with Indigenous Women world-wide – will you do the same?

Written on 08 March 2022. Posted in News

In a world where one in three women experiences violence, where women do not have an equal say in decisions affecting their lives and where the predominant view on women in many cases is sexist and discriminatory – it continues to be necessary for all of us to fight to change this situation, especially for Indigenous women, who disproportionately face intersectional discrimination and multiple expressions of violence, and are often excluded from decision-making processes and leadership positions.

Violence against Indigenous women triggers other negative affects pertaining to mental and physical health issues as well as lower self-worth, which again lessens the possibilities of earning an income and lowers the level of participation and decision-making powers of women. It is a vicious cycle that urgently needs to be broken.

At the same time, it is important to recognise the crucial role Indigenous Women play in their communities, both as the breadwinners, caretakers, leaders, and human rights defenders.

“We stand with Indigenous women all over the world and will continue to support them and stand by them in the fight for their safety and proper recognition,” IWGIA’s Senior Advisor, Signe Leth said. “However, despite the uphill battle and multiple challenges Indigenous women face in their daily lives, what we have seen and know through the strong partners we work with is that Indigenous women are powerful changemakers and indispensable bearers of knowledge and practices that can be for the benefit of all of us in our shared fragile environment.”

While Indigenous women have made small, but significant progress in being part of decision-making processes in some communities, risen to leadership in communal and national roles, and stood on the protest frontlines to defend their lands and our shared, decreasing biodiversity; the reality remains that they are massively under-represented, disproportionately negatively affected by the decisions made on their behalf without their representation or valuable input, and are too frequently the victims of violence and sexual assault.

This year, IWGIA’s flagship one-of-a-kind publication, The Indigenous World, will have a special focus on the contribution and situation of Indigenous women and their rights around the world. What our dozens of country reports and analysis of numerous international processes and mechanisms in this year’s edition show is that the picture for Indigenous women across the globe remains unacceptably much the same.

Today, on International Women’s Day, IWGIA would like to show our solidarity and support to all Indigenous Women, who stand up for their rights, and for the rights of their peoples. Fighting to promote, protect and defend Indigenous Women’s rights is a key component of IWGIA’s work. You can support our work by becoming a member: https://iwgia.org/en/get-involved.html

We hope that you do the same.