Human Rights Law and Indigenous Women

In this short piece, the author reflects on the experience of being an Aboriginal Australian woman. In considering this experience, she questions how an individual's humanity is defined. Moreover, she questions whether that identity is defined by the individual, the community to which he or she belongs, or other communities. The author argues that human rights provide the power to define what it is to be human. Human rights posit that no individual should be subject to unlawful discrimination. The experience and enjoyment of rights can be measured by proximity to power and privilege, and Aboriginal women suffer from a historical disadvantage in this regard resulting from colonialism. This disadvantage is perpetuated as a result of compounded discrimination on the grounds of sex and race.