Why the Violence Against Women Act Is Crucial for Native American Women

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/gender/why-violence-against-women-act-crucial-native-american-women



“A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground…” -- Cheyenne proverb

This week’s debate on the Violence Against Women Act marks, what may be a very important stage in improving relations between tribal governments, state and federal governments and the protection of women. The law has been up for re-authorization for five years, and has a few sticking points, mostly around the protection of Native and immigrant women, and gay and lesbian people. Republicans until Tuesday, had proposed amendments to strip Native American rights and jurisdiction over non- Native perpetrators of violence on the reservation. In what appears to be a change of heart, Tuesday’s passage of SB 47 with tribal jurisdiction intact, was a step in recognizing that as Senator Patrick Leahy said, in debates, “… a victim is a victim is a victim."

Why is this particularly important? Presently, 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes; 39% will be subjected to domestic violence in their lifetimes; 67% of Native women victims of rape and sexual assault report their assailants as non-Native individuals, and, on some reservations, Native women are murdered at more than ten times the national average. Not good. This set of facts is paired with unfortunately high declination rates: U.S. Attorneys declined to prosecute nearly 52% of violent crimes that occur in Indian country; and 67% of cases declined were sexual abuse related cases. This means, in the end, that Native women have been, in the words of Senator Maria Cantwell, “ treated as second class citizens under the law.”

I asked Lisa Brunner, Executive Director of Sacred Spirits, a national tribal organization working on the issues, her thoughts. “Some of the concern stems from a lack of understanding of tribal jurisdiction, in some cases, tribes are just implementing criminal codes in place which allow this legal process. The answer is to fund the tribal justice system. As well, there are safeguards built into the provision which ensure that all rights guaranteed under the Constitution are given to non-Native defendants in tribal court.”

The National Congress of American Indians, in their letter to Congress last week explained:

The special domestic violence jurisdiction is narrowly restricted to apply only to instances of domestic or dating violence where: 1) the victim is an Indian, 2) the conduct occurs on tribal lands; and 3) where the defendant either lives or works on the reservation, i.e., where the defendant has significant ties to the community.