Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis: Technological Dimensions
Authors:
- Jane BaileyJBJane Bailey
- Sara ShayanSSSara Shayan
- 1 August 2016
- journal article
- research article
- Published by University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) in Canadian Journal of Women and the Law
- Vol. 28 (2) , 321-341
Abstract
This article considers how digital technologies are informed by, and implicated in, the systematic and interlocking oppressions of colonialism, misogyny, and racism, all of which have been identified as root causes of the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis in Canada. The authors consider how technology can facilitate multiple forms of violence against women—including stalking and intimate partner violence, human trafficking, pornography and child abuse images, and online hate and harassment—and note instances where Indigenous women and girls may be particularly vulnerable. The authors also explore some of the complexities related to police use of technology for investigatory purposes, touching on police use of social media and DNA technology. Without simplistically blaming technology, the authors argue that technology interacts with multiple factors in the complex historical, socio-cultural environment that incubates the national crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The article concludes with related questions that may be considered at the impending national inquiry.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Feminist theories of technologyCambridge Journal of Economics, 2009