Ryan Reynolds and his wife Blake Lively are supporting Coady Institute’s Circle Of Abundance initiative, dedicated to amplifying indigenous women’s leadership. The native Canadian actor shared an Instagram post announcing the partnership, and took the time to tell his followers more about the work that the institute does, and how they can get involved.
Those In Need Of “Meaningful Remedies”
Unfortunately, indigenous women in Canada and The United States face countless challenges today. For example, according to Indian Law Resource Center, more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence, and more than one in two have experienced sexual abuse. Their abusers are barely ever held responsible for their actions.
“It is outrageous that the vast majority of these women never see their abusers or rapists brought to justice. An unworkable, race-based criminal jurisdictional scheme created by the United States has limited the ability of Indian nations to protect Native women from violence and to provide them with meaningful remedies. For more than 35 years, United States law has stripped Indian nations of all criminal authority over non-Indians. As a result, until recent changes in the law, Indian nations were unable to prosecute non-Indians, who reportedly commit the vast majority (96 percent) of sexual violence against Native women,” Indian Law reports.
This is exactly why it is crucial to provide education and resources for indigenous women in North America, and ensure that they are empowered to stand up for themselves and lead others, as well as start businesses and create jobs.
Circle Of Abundance Donation Program
According to the institute’s website, with over 60 years of experience supporting leaders who are striving to create economic and social change, it’s been busy developing an award-winning program for Indigenous Women in Community Leadership for the past 10 years.
The program is now accepting donations, which will be utilized to help Coady in “pivoting in a direction that reflects current realities and recent history.” With the funds raised, Circle Of Abundance will expand Coady’s offerings of Indigenous women’s leadership programs across the country, both in their community and on-campus programs at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. The money will also be used to connect and create exchanges for Indigenous women globally, and support the incubation of a new Indigenous-led and Indigenous-run women’s initiative.