Canadian Aboriginal Women and Their ‘Criminality’: The Cycle of Violence in the Context of Difference

The overrepresentation of Aboriginal women in Canada's justice 1 system is a longstanding social problem that is reflective of wider social and economic differences for Aboriginal peoples. While other minority and/or marginalized groups in Canada may experience similar intersections of race, gender, and class, a special ‘context of difference’, grounded in the colonial legacy of assimilationist policies, exists for Canadian Aborigines. It is argued that a cycle of violence and criminality for Aboriginal women has emerged from this context of difference. The relationship and tensions that exist between the ‘cycle’ and the ‘context’ are explored in an attempt to determine the nature of both. The implications of the relationship on the legal realities for Aboriginal women are discussed as well as the traditional and contemporary theoretical explanations offered for its existence. The paper concludes by considering possibilites for breaking the cycle.