Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Consent in a (neo) colonial society: Aboriginal women as sexual and legal 'other'
Other Titles:	Australian feminist studies
Authors:	Behrendt, Larissa
Keywords:	Legal issues;Indigenous issues;Sexual assault
Year:	2000
Publisher:	Research Centre for Women's Studies, University of Adelaide
Citation:	15 (33), 2000
Notes:	Provides an historical background to sexual and social relations between Aboriginal women and white males during the frontier years of colonisation utilising Thomas Keneally’s novel The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith as a fici-fact illustration of the sexually exploitative and racist practices which took place during this period. Reviewing recent literature on violence against women in Indigenous communities, the complicity of the legal system and Australian society generally in the subordination of Aboriginal women today is highlighted, particularly in relation to the sexual assault of Indigenous women and children by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous men. Racial and sexual bias within the judicial system is also discussed and specific cases used as illustration. Argues that although Indigenous women have exhibited adaptability and agency in their pursuit for social justice, their contributions remain unrecognised and colonial sexual and labour practices have merely taken contemporary forms, leaving behind a legacy in which Aboriginal women are constructed as sexually available and consenting.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/13985
ISSN:	0816-4649
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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