Native American women suffering shocking rates of rape

[almaty 19]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Native American and Alaskan women are suffering rates of rape and sexual violence nearly three times higher than the US national average, Amnesty says in a new study released Tuesday.

The human rights watchdog said a complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions often allowed men to rape with impunity, creating a vicious cycle that emboldened rapists and led to more attacks.

The study cited Justice Department figures which indicated that American Indian and Alaska Native women were 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in the United States in general.

The figures said more than one in three Native women would be raped in their lifetime, although that figure may in fact be substantially higher because of a traditional reluctance to report sex crimes.

"Native women are brutalized at an alarming rate, and the United States government, a purported champion of women's rights, is unfortunately contributing to the problem," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA.

"It is disgraceful that such abuse even exists today. Without immediate action, an already abysmal and outrageous situation for women could spiral even further out of control."

The Amnesty report "Maze of Injustice: The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women From Sexual Violence in the USA" said many rape investigations stalled as officers tried to establish who the investigating authority was.

A dearth of trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners at Indian Health Service facilities also meant Native Women do not get timely responses from police and sometimes never received basic forensic medical examinations.

Amnesty accused the US government of undermining tribal justice systems by consistent under-funding.

It cited the example of the 2.3 million acre Standing Rock Sioux Reservation spread across North and South Dakota which occasionally has only one police officer on duty to cover the entire region.

Amnesty said women reporting rape or sex crimes in Standing Rock often had to wait hours or days before receiving a response from police.

Alaska was the rape capital of the United States, Amnesty said citing FBI statistics. Between 2000 and 2003, one study found that native Alaskan women in Anchorage were roughly 10 times more likely to be raped than other women in the city.

To tackle the problem, Amnesty called on Congress to increase funding to the Indian Health Service in order to train and employ more nurses qualified to examine victims of sex attacks.

Amnesty also demanded the federal government provide necessary funding for police forces on Indian reservations and in Alaskan Native villages.

[Nagishkaw 510]

[almaty 19]

i have worked on 3 Indian reservations..and been to many others..unless someone is interested, i will not get into my viewpoint on the causes or the cultural considerations...but, this is nothing new to me or probably my Sister Nagishkaw....as anyone who ahs been to a reservation, not associated with a casino can verify the issues

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

sad. really sad.

Daniel

:energetic:

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

i have worked on 3 Indian reservations..and been to many others..unless someone is interested, i will not get into my viewpoint on the causes or the cultural considerations...but, this is nothing new to me or probably my Sister Nagishkaw....as anyone who ahs been to a reservation, not associated with a casino can verify the issues

I'm actually interested. Is it a cultural thing?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Also I believe Native American have the highest rates of suicide and alcoholism. More so than other ethnic groupings.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Would second-hand verification be adequate, Dean?

I remember dealing with a fellow student in Edmonton (U of A) who had worked in Indian Affairs on several reservations as a councilor. He said that CENT-PERCENT of the women he had to council had been raped, and that the reservation was more like ANOTHER PLANET than just another nation. Unemployment rate on the reservations was near CENT-PERCENT (and, as one can guess, all who had jobs worked in Indian Affairs).

[Nagishkaw 510]

Also I believe Native American have the highest rates of suicide and alcoholism. More so than other ethnic groupings.

Gee, I can't imagine why.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Would second-hand verification be adequate, Dean?

I remember dealing with a fellow student in Edmonton (U of A) who had worked in Indian Affairs on several reservations as a councilor. He said that CENT-PERCENT of the women he had to council had been raped, and that the reservation was more like ANOTHER PLANET than just another nation. Unemployment rate on the reservations was near CENT-PERCENT (and, as one can guess, all who had jobs worked in Indian Affairs).

You see much the same trend with the Maoris in NZ and the Aborigines in Australia - in short it seems to happen a lot to formerly conquered and dispossessed native peoples.

[akdiver 3]

So, what, we need to boost the rates of rape of other women so that they are all the same? We need to reduce the rapes among native americans so they are all the same?

Agh!! We do not have enough native american astronomers and tennis players - what we can do about this? Let's create a new tax for everyone, and use the funds to create programs to entice these people into these careers....

How about we work to reduce the incidents of rape of ALL WOMEN no matter WHAT their race is?

Sheesh.

Cheers!

AKDiver

[Nagishkaw 510]

Your premonitions of doom are groundless, but your premonitions of surrealism may come true.

Cheer yourself.

Edited April 24, 2007 by Nagishkaw

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Amnesty accused the US government of undermining tribal justice systems by consistent under-funding.

Contact South Dakota's Senator John Thune:

http://thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?F...n=Contact.Email

Senator Tim Johnson:

http://johnson.senate.gov/emailform.cfm

[Nagishkaw 510]

:lol:

[Caladan 19]

It's not just a story about race, but a story about a lacuna in the justice system.

According to the account of this I heard on NPR this afternoon, the problem seems to be a) mostly white guys raping Native American women which leads b ) a curious jurisdiction problem. Tribal police can't prosecute someone who isn't a resident of the reservation; and federal or other local authorities don't often have the ability or interest to prosecute the case.

Add to that the alcohol and the casinos, and it's pretty much a perfect storm for some guy looking to take advantage of someone. The girl reports it to the tribal police who are too underfunded to do a rape kit and can't get the guy anyway; the surrounding police can't do anything (because they don't have the evidence from the tribal police) or don't care.

But, yeah, you know, cheers...

Edited April 25, 2007 by Caladan

[Nancy2015 2]

If someone can shed some light on all this for me, I would appreciate it.

So, do Native Americans have to live in reservations, or do they just choose to do so? Are the reservations under some other jurisdiction other than that of the State and the Federal Government?