User:Jminker/sandbox

In the United States, Native American women are more than twice as likely as White women, Asian women, and Black women to experience sexual violence ** and 96% of those women have experienced other physical abuse as well. One in three First Nations women will be raped in their lifetime versus less than one of five for women as a whole. First Nations women of varying ages experience this violence in the form of child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, and murder. At least 78% of the perpetrators of sexual assault and rape committed against Native American women are White. This makes the victimization of Native women extremely different from that of women of other racial groups, who are more likely to be victimized by a member of their own race. The rate of interracial violence experienced by First Nations women is higher than that experienced by women of other races according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Department of Justice, and Office of Justice Programs. Much of the violence  experienced is committed by intimate partners at a higher rate than any other race or ethnicity, as identified by a 2008 CDC study.

Causes

Perhaps the most significant component affecting the vulnerability of Native American women is their status as people living under a colonizer’s rule. It has been stated that there are “striking parallels between sexual violence against individual women and neo-colonial violence against peoples and nations” . The colonization of Native peoples and their land involves a set of power dynamics that often prevent Native women who have been victimized by White men from coming forward to seek resources or pursue legal action. Furthermore, the introduction of European ways of life by colonizers broke down traditional ways of life and lead to increased violence, mental health issues, poverty, suicide, neglect, post-traumatic stress disorder (roughly the same rate as war veterans), drug abuse, alcoholism, homelessness, and disconnection from family and community. Many of these issues are also not being aided in any way because of a lack of money. These issues make the victimization of native women much more prevalent. The violence native men experienced in tribal schools, for example, can be linked to how they treat their families when they come back to the reservation. Many children today have parents or grandparents who were sent to these boarding schools. Alcohol abuse and drug abuse also play a huge role in violence against First Nations women. In a survey, most First Nations women said that they believed that their assailant had been drinking or using drugs before he had assaulted them. Many of the underlying stereotypes of Native Americans also contribute to these high levels of victimizations. These stereotypes include the over sexualization of Native American women and as being the ideal partner, known as the squaw woman. Historically they have been given the role of the submissive and passive recipient to sexual acts and therefore face more sexual victimization.

Interventions

Since rape is a felony in the United States, it falls under the Major Crimes Act, an 1885 act that gives the federal government jurisdiction over felonies committed on reservations. However, in 1978 in the Supreme Court ruling in the court case Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tribes did not have criminal jurisdiction over non-Indian perpetrators. This meant that federally recognized tribes had no authority to criminally prosecute non-Indian offenders, even for crimes committed in Indian Country. This essentially provided immunity to non-Indian offenders and compromised the safety of American Indian and Alaska Native women and men. In 2013 the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act attempted to correct this problem by providing tribes that met specific criteria with special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction which enabled them to prosecute certain cases that had non-Indian perpetrators. The Violence Against Women Act was used by Christy Brzonkala in December of 1995 to sue her two attackers, Morrison and Crawford, and Virginia Tech. The district court dismissed her case on the grounds that the private right of action which Ms. Brzonkala had brought up her case under was unconstitutional because there was no basis of authority for legal action against violence against women. The protections that do exist under the constitution exist at the state level and have been ruled to not protect private individuals.  Equal protection under the Constitutional, for all women, is still greatly needed as these laws apply to everyone and not just First Nations women. There was a proposal for one such amendment called the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that would state: "Women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex". With this, there would be laws to protect all women, on or off reservations. Another issue is that in order to take legal action one must have the money to get a lawyer to represent them in court. This becomes an issue particularly on reservations because poverty is a major issue. Furthermore, the biased police and legal system make it greatly more difficult to obtain justice.

Amnesty International's "Maze of Injustice" Report

Amnesty International published "Maze of Injustice: the failure to protect indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA", in order to represent the voices of survivors of sexual violence. The research was done for the report in 2005 and 2006 in three different locations with different policing and juridical arrangements. Those locations include Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North and South Dakota, the state of Oklahoma, and the state of Alaska. Amnesty International interviewed victims of sexual assault, tribal, state, and federal law enforcement officials, prosecutors and tribal judges for the report. While finding officials to interview for the report, the Executive Office of US Attorneys told them individual US attorneys cannot participate in the survey.

 The report opens with the story of a young Alaskan Native woman raped by a non-native man. In July 2006, the woman was raped and rushed to the ER where she was treated as a drunk. They later sent her to a non-native shelter for women where she was also treated as a drunk because of her trauma.  Most Native women don't report their assaults because of the fear nothing will be done.  Another story that the article reported was the story of a 21 year Native women who was raped by four men and later died in 2003. The case was closed because of questioning of jurisdictions.  Each women that shared her story in the report had a common element in their stories. The injustice these women faced were mainly based on stereotypes. Rather their trials took place on a Federal or State level the women were viewed as drunks and some blame was put on them.

When pursuing justice women go through a maze between tribal, state and federal law. The women are first asked "was it in our jurisdiction and was the perpetrator Native American?" when they first contact the police department. It takes a lot of time just to have your case heard so women give up.  The Amnesty International report goes on to list reasons why they believe these injustices are occurring. The first reason for injustice described is the lack of training and delay or failure to respond of police officers.  If the police officers are not the first to respond the women lose confidence in pursuing a case against the perpetrators. The next reasons for injustice presented are issues within each level of the US's legal system. The lack of justice for Native women's sexual abuse within the tribal level is the lack of funding from the government. Also, the federal government limits the number of prison sentences tribal courts can make. The federal government also prohibits tribal courts to prosecute Non-Native suspects because of the 1978 Oliphant v. Suquamish case. On a federal level the issue of discrimination and limitations on persecution of sexual assault is a reason for injustice. Things are a little more complicated on a States level. The distance of courts, language barriers, lack of funding for persecution, and cultural competency are main causes of injustice for Native victims on a State level. 

           The Amnesty International gives their audiences suggestions as to how to stop violence against Indigenous women. Some of their recommendations include: "Federal and state governments should take effective measures, in consultation and co-operation with Native American and Alaska Native peoples, to combat prejudice and eliminate stereotyping of and discrimination against Indigenous peoples. The federal government should take steps – including by providing sufficient funding – to ensure the full implementation of the 2005 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, particularly Title IX (Tribal Programs). Law enforcement agencies should recognize in policy and practice that all police officers have the authority to take action in response to reports of sexual violence, including rape, within their jurisdiction and to apprehend the alleged perpetrators in order to transfer them to the appropriate authorities for investigation and prosecution. In particular, where sexual violence is committed in Indian Country and in Alaska Native villages, tribal law enforcement officials must be recognized as having the authority to apprehend both Native and non-Native suspects. Federal authorities should ensure that tribal police forces have access to federal funding to enable them to recruit, train, equip and retain sufficient law enforcement officers to provide adequate law enforcement coverage which is responsive to the needs of the Indigenous peoples they serve." 

Conclusion

Recognizing sovereignty and affording Native tribes the right to prosecute non-Natives who commit crimes against Native Americans on reservations would be an extremely important first step in a series of legal changes that could affect how these violations are responded to and viewed at the community, state, and federal levels. Additionally, traditional healing methods, including culturally specific ceremonies of purification or rebirth and mentoring by community elders, can be helpful in the healing process of Native American women who have been violated.