An International Criminal Court for Indigenous Women
Melissa Farley, Jeri Moomaw
Fourth World Journal (2025) 25 (1): 433-456
Keywords Indigenous Women, Gender-Based Violence, Forced Sterilization, Human Trafficking, Sexual Violence, Legal Disempowerment, State Violence Against Women, Intergenerational Trauma, Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), Indigenous Feminism
Abstract
Indigenous women sit at the crux of state violence, disproportionately subjected to legal disempowerment, human rights violations, economic disenfranchisement, and environmental destruction. Existing international legal systems do not account for this gender disparity, nor do they recognize cases of ecocide, culturcide, or state-reinforced domestic violence. Studies in sexual violence prove that human trafficking and forced sterilization contribute to the racialized criminalization of Indigenous women and inflict cycles of intergenerational harm. In addition, so-called “sacrifice zones”—regions disrupted by climate catastrophe—exacerbate existing
traumas. Lack of secure healthcare, land access, and education further increase the vulnerability of Indigenous women to systemic patterns of abuse. Cases brought forth by the Cinta Larga, Sami, and Kikuyu Nations across the globe highlight the necessity of a forum like the NICT to mediate between victim and perpetrator in these circumstances. The NICT presents an avenue through which these women can confront the perpetrators of these genocidal practices and seek meaningful recourse.
Melissa Farley
Jeri Moomaw
Published June 23, 2025
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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