White House to Tackle Violence Against Native American Women

As part of the Department of Justice's initiative to improve public safety in tribal communities, Attorney General Eric Holder recently announced sweeping reforms, including a directive for U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to "work closely with law enforcement to pay particular attention to violence against women in Indian Country and make these crimes a priority."

Native American women face appallingly high levels of violence. More than one in three Native women will be raped in her lifetime. Native women are 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than other women in the United States. They experience more intimate partner violence than any other U.S. ethnic group, and murder rates of Native women are also many times higher than the national average.

Kathryn Tucker has a four part series in Indian Country Today that addresses intimate partner violence against Native women, its causes and strategies for its prevention. She cites the societal upheaval, economic marginalization, and historical trauma wrought by conquest and colonization as the root of the problem. Furthermore, a lack of culturally sensitive law enforcement officers and culturally appropriate legal and support services can make getting help challenging.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International blames "a complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions" for allowing "perpetrators to rape with impunity." Depending on the crime, federal, state or tribal officials have jurisdiction on tribal lands, and their lack of cooperation has often meant that cases are dropped or unreported. The vast majority of reported sexual assaults are perpetrated by non-Native men, many of whom ostensibly see Native women as easy targets for this reason.

According to Lynn Rosenthal, the White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, violent crime on some reservations is more than twenty times the national average. Although Attorney General Holder acknowledged there is no "quick fix" to this problem, his commitment to putting thought, money, and manpower into working towards a solution is a very good step. As Kathryn Tucker so eloquently points out, though, there is also more abstract work to be done: "The history of discrimination, genocide and exploitation needs to be confronted and recognized so the mindset that dehumanizes and victimizes Native Americans can be overcome. This is not something that can be legislated or mandated."

It's also important to recognize the role of the media in creating awareness of the problem in the first place. Until mainstream media remembers that Native Americans exist outside of the confines of pow-wows and casinos -- i.e. they are human beings like the rest of us and their stories are just as important -- there really won't be much public accountability for this initiative outside of the Native community.

Photo Credit: Shannon Irla