INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE (IPV) IN INDIGENOUS CANADIAN COMMUNITIES: A CASE STUDY OF THE PIMICIKAMAK CREE NATION IN CROSS LAKE, NORTHERN MANITOBA

Based on individually conducted in-depth face-to-face interviews, this study examines Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) violence in a First Nations community in Northern Manitoba, Canada. It takes as a point of reference the Pimicikamak Cree Nation of Cross Lake. This study situates IPV within the broader context of societal violence and employs a Structural Violence Theory perspective. Empirical studies have consistently demonstrated that IPV is a serious problem facing Canadian Indigenous families. Women are by far the main victims of this problem. Considering that no studies had been published previously about spousal IPV in the Cross Lake community, this study became, by default, exploratory, with the following three crucial questions: (a) what are the social factors shaping IPV in the community? (b) how does IPV affect the lives of victims/survivors? and (c) how is the community responding to the problem? The main findings of this study are as follow: (a) IPV is a systemic problem in the community; (b) women suffer more serious and repeated IPV than do men; (c) despite community efforts to address IPV, inadequate prevention programs have further compounded the problem; and (d) survivors of IPV demonstrated a high level of resilience in the face of pain and suffering. IPV in Pimicikamak Cross Lake community has been compounded by the intergenerational effects of systemic (structural) poverty and the Indian Residential School experience. The interplay of these factors has harmfully affected individual, family, and community relationships and wellbeing.