DID YOU KNOW? More Than 1 in 3 Native American Women Will Be Raped In Her Lifetime

Native American and Alaskan Native women are greater than 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than other women in the United States.  Making matters worse, there is a complex maze of tribal, state and federal legal systems that gives perpetrators of many of these rapes impunity and in some cases even encourages assaults.  Sexual violence against Indigenous women in the USA is widespread -- and especially brutal.   Some Indigenous women report they didn’t know anyone in their community who had not experienced sexual violence. Though rape is always an act of violence, there is evidence that Indigenous women are more like than other women to suffer additional types of violence at the hands of their attackers. Statistics gathered by the US Justice system show that in at least 86 per cent of the reported cases of rape or sexual assault against American Indian and Alaskan Native women the perpetrators are non-Native men. Sexual violence against Indigenous women is the result of a number of factors including a history of widespread and egregious human rights violations against Indigenous peoples in the USA.   There are many infamous historical events (including the Trail of Tears between 1790 and 1830) where settlers and soldiers  raped indigenous women. Such attacks were not random or individual, but were the tools used to take over and   colonize the west. The underlying attitudes towards Indigenous peoples that supported these human rights violations then continue to be present in society and culture today. They contribute to the present high rates of sexual violence perpetrated against Indigenous women and help to shield their attackers from justice. There are three justice systems -- tribal, state and federal --  that are potentially involved in responding to sexual violence against Indigenous women.  Before any action is taken,  there has to be a determination of which of these systems has authority in the case.  The main factors that determine which system has authority to prosecute such crimes are whether the victim is a member of a federally recognized tribe or not and whether the offence took place on tribal land or not.  The answers to these questions are often not self-evident and there can be significant delays while police, lawyers and courts establish who has jurisdiction over a particular crime. The result can be such confusion and uncertainty that no one intervenes and survivors of sexual violence are denied access to justice. Tribal prosecutors cannot prosecute crimes committed by non-Native perpetrators. Tribal courts are also prohibited from passing custodial sentences that are in keeping with the seriousness of the crimes of rape or other forms of sexual violence. The maximum prison sentence tribal courts can impose for crimes, including rape, is one year. At the same time, the majority of rape cases on tribal lands that are referred to the federal courts are reportedly never brought to trial.  As a consequence Indigenous women are being denied justice and the perpetrators are going unpunished. In failing to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence, the USA is violating the rights of these women.  Indigenous women’s organizations and tribal authorities have brought forward concrete proposals to help stop sexual violence against Indigenous women – but the federal government has failed to act.