Contributing Factors of GBV
Understanding the underlying causes of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is essential for prevention and healing. These contributing factors include deeply rooted attitudes, historical trauma, social norms, and systemic challenges that affect individuals, families, and communities.
Attitudes and Beliefs
Intergenerational transmission of culture refers to how values, knowledge, and behaviours are passed from one generation to the next. This process can include both positive cultural knowledge and harmful learned behaviours, such as violence.
Intergenerational trauma is trauma passed down from survivors to their descendants. Children who witness or experience violence are at risk of normalizing it, leading to long-lasting effects including mental health challenges and substance abuse.
Residential Schools
Residential schools were government-sponsored religious institutions aimed at assimilating Indigenous children by severing ties to their families, languages, customs, and beliefs.
Children were often subjected to abuse and neglect, losing connection to their heritage and spirituality.
The schools taught shame and rejection of Indigenous identity, resulting in widespread emotional trauma, self-hatred, and loss of culture.
Abuse included physical, sexual, and emotional harm, and strict, punitive parenting models were imposed.
Trauma effects ripple across generations, affecting parenting, family relationships, and community well-being.
Impacts of Residential Schools:
Joblessness, poverty, family violence, substance abuse, sexual abuse, homelessness, imprisonment, and early death.
Loss of traditions, stories, and cultural identity.
Increased rates of suicide and communal violence.
Lack of trust in authority and law enforcement, which isolates survivors further.
As service providers, it’s critical to understand these impacts to support Indigenous clients compassionately and effectively.
Gender Norms and Patriarchy
Gender-based violence is rooted in unequal power dynamics reinforced by societal gender norms and patriarchal values.
Gender norms dictate how people “should” behave based on their gender, often limiting expression and perpetuating inequality.
Patriarchal norms privilege men’s power and control, often through strength, dominance, and sexual control.
These norms disadvantage women, girls, and gender-diverse people and may harm men and boys who don’t conform.
Gender-based violence aims to humiliate and subordinate individuals or groups, maintained by societal denial and silence.
Lack of Supports
Many Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals face significant barriers due to a lack of supports:
Insufficient financial assistance, mental health resources, and emergency shelter spaces.
Lack of trauma-informed care and training within community organizations.
Distrust of law enforcement and authorities exacerbates isolation and prevents access to help.
The Impact of Intergenerational Trauma
The legacy of Residential Schools and colonial policies continues to affect individuals, families, and communities on multiple levels:
Individual: Isolation, shame, anger, self-hatred, internalized racism, fear of authority, low self-esteem, self-destructive behaviors (substance abuse, gambling, suicidal behavior) and aggression
Family: Unresolved grief, difficulty parenting, family violence, loss of stories and traditions, loss of identity
Community and Culture: Loss of connectedness to language, traditions, cultural history; loss of collective support and Elders’ guidance; lack of control over land and resources; increased suicide rates; communal violence; dependency
Moving Forward: Healing and Prevention
To effectively prevent and address GBV, we must:
Recognize how violence is transferred across generations.
Challenge beliefs that blame survivors or see violence as shameful or normal.
Support Indigenous people in reclaiming their identity, culture, language, and ancestry to foster resilience and empowerment.
Increase trust, access, and availability of culturally safe services.