Virtuous imperialism or a shared global objective? - Environmental and Human Security in the Arctic - page 73

of people would in principle qualify as a human security issue. Except that
this case referred to women and children fleeing violent homes in Alberta,
one of the richest provinces of Canada (Scott 2003). It is assumed that social,
economic and political development and an advanced Canadian infrastructure
ensures that a legitimate state apparatus is in place to address the insecurities
of women experiencing violence. However, the above case is an illustration of
insecurity from the margins of society in Canada, of women and children who
are not part of the dominant political apparatus, and many of whom live in
poverty. The number of homeless women and children continued to escalate
during Canada's human security years, as did the violence against women and
their children, but it never became a human security issue politically (Alberta
Council of Women's Shelters). The problem remains especially acute on First
Nation (indigenous) reserves (ibid.).
Highlighting certain insecurities in otherwise affluent and 'secure' parts of
the world might be considered a devaluation or marginalization of other inse-
curities, in other parts of the world, that involve immediate physical threats
such as war. It is not uncommon to see a ranking of security issues, usually
against the threat of large-scale violence or war, as the assumption is that war
is the activity that most likely threatens the existence of the state (which is
assumed to protect people and their human security). The security of women
has been weighed against this measure as well; when large-scale conflict
defines security and particularly security of the state, individual security
issues fall by the wayside, where women, for example, are responsible for their
own security (prevent your own rape by not walking alone at night, drinking
or not wearing provocative clothing; be sure to keep your husband/partner
happy so that he will not resort to domestic violence; do not commit adultery
for fear of being punished by family or society on religious/cultural grounds),
and their insecurity will not be acknowledged in the public, political realm.
And when it has been acknowledged, it often falls at a lower priority than
does open armed conflict as a security issue. Is it necessary, however, to place
these securities at cross-purposes? As 'enemies' of each other, so to speak? The
insecurity of women, for example, subject to domestic violence or sexualized
violence, is a problem that is shared across regions, states and communities,
during war as well as peace time, but little is being done to address this global
threat to women. Knowing security as a part of but also beyond immediate
physical threat or war-torn contexts can provide a much deeper and relevant
understanding of security - demonstrating its complexity and dynamism. As
well, it can provide insights into securities that are otherwise ignored or over-
looked, whether relevant to the global South or North. It also de-powers the
human security agenda defined by elites (without any proper engagement
and recognition for other actors), and reduces the tendency towards a virtuous
imperialism imposed by those in power.
It is important to continue to illustrate the hypocrisies of narrow defini-
tions of security, and the assumption that the state, especially the 'developed