The hard work of Native advocates and leaders to call attention to the ongoing problem of missing and murdered Native women in the United States may finally be gaining traction. In states across the country, lawmakers are giving the issue more attention in recent months. As reported by Rewire.News, a December 2017 Office of the Inspector General report revealed damning information regarding the Department of Justice’s failure to meet some of the most basic mandates of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, such as creating a reliable, accurate method to gather data on crime in Indian Country and the numbers of missing and murdered Native women. A 2016 National Institute of Justice report added momentum to the issue with data about the high rates of violence against Native people. According to the report, 84.3 percent of Native women experience violence in their lifetimes. The details of the August 2017 tragic murder of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, who was also a victim of fetal abduction, drew worldwide attention to the problem of missing and murdered indigenous women. The case spurred Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) to introduce legislation, titled Savanna’s Act, calling for improved federal crime data collection and the creation of a standardized protocol for responding to reports of missing and murdered Native women.Read More on the Story:
Mary Annette Pember: States Inch Closer to Better Reporting on Violence Against Native Women (Rewire.News March 30, 2018)
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