The Stand Against Violence and Empower Native Women Act was introduced in the Senate on Monday.

The bill seeks to reduce the high rate of violent crimes against American Indian and Alaska Native women. It affirms tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit crimes on Indian lands, improves tribal programs under the Violence Against Women Act and strengthens data gathering programs to address sex trafficking of Native women.

"According to a study by the Department of Justice, two-in-five women in Native communities will suffer domestic violence, and one-in-three will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. To make matters worse, four out of five perpetrators of these crimes are non-Indian, and cannot be prosecuted by tribal governments. This has contributed to a growing sense of lawlessness on Indian reservations and a perpetuation of victimization of Native women," Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said in a press release.

Tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians is likely to be the most controversial provision. The bill is limited to acts of domestic violence or dating violence and to violations of protection orders.

Tribes that wish to assert jurisdiction over non-Indians must elect to do so. They also must provide to defendants "all other rights whose protection is necessary under the Constitution of the United States."

The bill is S.1763. It has nine co-sponsors, all Democrats.

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