Celebrating the Success of the Tribal Law and Order Act

by Brittany Shoot · 2010-07-26 14:14:00 UTC
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Last Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the Tribal Law and Order Act, which provides landmark protection to American Indian and Alaska Native women. Disproportionately affected by sexual violence, indigenous women have long lacked specific legal protection due to confusion between federal and local governments and tribal authority.

According to Amnesty International, instead of removing tribal power, the act will "enhance the criminal justice system by improving coordination and communication between federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies." It will, in fact, restore tribal power, and, if properly implemented between all branches of law enforcement, it will help curb the drastically high levels of sexual assault in Native communities and give women more options for recourse.

Amnesty International has previously released reports on the high rates of sexual violence in Native communities: Native women are 2.5 times more likely to be raped than non-Native women. Non-Native men often escape punishment for sexually violent crimes because of the complicated maze of federal, local, and tribal jurisdiction that leaves Indian Country wide open to abuses of the system, while Native men who are tried are given extremely lenient sentences.

The Tribal Law and Order Act, which already passed the Senate, will restore the power of tribal governments to hand down more suitable punishments, hopefully deter sexual predators, and may encourage more women to begin to come forward and report when they've been attacked and assaulted. When you know you're more likely to be protected and your accuser to be punished, you're more likely to come forward.

The Act will also standardize sexual assault protocols within the Indian Health Service, which is currently one of the main issues faced when trying to prosecute men for sexually violent crimes. Native women are not routinely given rape kits, and forensic evidence is not necessarily collected as part of standard procedure. Now, criminal data will be routinely collected, stored, and shared, hopefully leading to more prosecutions, and of course, will hopefully act as a deterrent for men looking for vulnerable victims in Native communities.

This isn't a space where we often get to celebrate victories, so I'm especially pleased to report that this month, we've got a reason to be excited about progress being made for Native women's health and safety. This is a victory we can all support, and I hope to see genuine results following the passage of this historic legislation.

Photo Credit: Tobyotter

Brittany Shoot is a freelance writer, editor and critic. She's one of the editors of the Feminist Review blog and a frequent contributor to a variety of progressive publications.
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