Alaska has the highest rate of reported rape in America, 3x the National average.

[JaneyVee]

Full story at: http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/02/opinion/sutter-change-alaska-rape/index.html

[shenmue]

1. The hell?!

What kind of nightmare is going on there?

[stevenleser]

2. Horrible. I want to know the answer to that too. What is it about Alaska and

the people who are there that this is so.

[snooper2]

3. major alcohol abuse is one

[JustAnotherGen]

4. I've always understood it

To be directly related to the extreme vulnerability of native American women. Just scanned the article - will go back for more details . . .

Updated with a link/reference. It's from 2012 when the VAWA came up for renewal - but still very relevant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/us/native-americans-struggle-with-high-rate-of-rape.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

But according a survey by the Alaska Federation of Natives, the rate of sexual violence in rural villages like Emmonak is as much as 12 times the national rate. And interviews with Native American women here and across the nation’s tribal reservations suggest an even grimmer reality: They say few, if any, female relatives or close friends have escaped sexual violence.

“We should never have a woman come into the office saying, ‘I need to learn more about Plan B for when my daughter gets raped,’ ” said Charon Asetoyer, a women’s health advocate on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, referring to the morning-after pill. “That’s what’s so frightening — that it’s more expected than unexpected. It has become a norm for young women.”

The difficulties facing American Indian women who have been raped are myriad, and include a shortage of sexual assault kits at Indian Health Service hospitals, where there is also a lack of access to birth control and sexually transmitted disease testing. There are also too few nurses trained to perform rape examinations, which are generally necessary to bring cases to trial.

[luckyleftyme2]

5. Is there a miss match ofmales to females

Is it because their is a miss-match of males to females? say in certain areas are there a large percentage of males to females? Is it job related where the male is away for a period of more than 24 hours at a time due to job or career needs? Is it lax or scarce law enforcement. Seems like they may need to self correct the situation with new protection methods.

[Bandit]

6. Most rape/sexual abuse happens in the villages which are mostly native and isolated.

People get trapped in these villages for several months and many have banned alcohol. So bootleggers are in high demand and when a load hits the village all sorts of bad things happen.