Fortunately, the recent reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act should give American Indian women reason to hope.

It should also give domestic violence offenders pause, as VAWA provides more tools to bring these offenders to justice.

VAWA will allow qualified tribal courts to exercise criminal jurisdiction over certain non-Indians who commit domestic violence offenses on reservation lands. By doing so, VAWA creates a clear path for law enforcement through the jurisdictional thicket on the reservations.

Because of VAWA, no more will a non-Indian perpetrator of domestic violence scoff in the face of a first-responding tribal police officer, “You have no jurisdiction; what are you going to do about it?”

No more will tribal police officers feel powerless to protect American Indian victims of domestic violence.