Indigenous women the world over experience particular forms of discrimination because of their multiple identities, discrimination against them as Indigenous peoples and discrimination of a different form against their gender. The struggle for the recognition of collective ownership of land, territories and resources—a primary concern of indigenous peoples—has been criticized by some as placing greater importance on collective rather than individual rights, resulting in further marginalization for individual women. However, this criticism reveals also an inability in some commentators to comprehend the collective contexts in which individual rights are experienced or enjoyed and a general bias against the recognition of the importance of collective rights.
