Editorial: Address violence against Native women

Tuesday, October 9, 2007  

"Reducing the high rate of rape of American Indian women will require greater cooperation between the federal and state governments and Indian nations.

One in three American Indian women will be raped some time in their lives. That is 2 1/2 times the rate in the general U.S. population, according to a spring Amnesty International report. U.S. senators on the Indian Affairs Committee began last month discussing the report and possible legislative action.

Tribes want more money for law enforcement, citing that especially on reservations, they don’t have enough officers to patrol vast areas. But short of increasing law enforcement funds, governments have to minimize the bureaucratic hurdles in investigating rapes and in pressing charges against those who rape Indian women.

More than 86 percent of the rapes against native women is committed by non-Indian men, according to the U.S. Justice Department, yet in 1978 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tribal governments have no criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Curb sexual violence against native women (The Muskogee Phoenix 10/9)

Amnesty International Report:
Full Report | Press Release

Online Discussion:
Violence against Native American and Alaska Native Women (April 24, 2007)

Relevant Links:
Join Voices with Native American and Alaska Native Women and Take Action to Stop the Violence - http://www.amnestyusa.org/maze

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