Sexual Abuse

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Sexual Abuse and Legal Retribution on Tribal Lands

“She was 19, a young Alaska Native woman in [Emmonak, Alaska, an] icebound fishing village of 800 in the Yukon River delta, when an intruder broke into her home and raped her. The man left. Shaking, the woman called the tribal police, a force of three. It was late at night. No one answered. She left a message on the department’s voice mail system. Her call was never returned. She was left to recover on her own.” - “For Native American Women, Scourge of Rape, Rare Justice,” The New York Times, May 22, 2012

Native American women are subject to higher rates of domestic violence than any other ethnic groups in the United States. In fact, according to the Justice Department, rates of sexual assault among Native women are twice the national average. This is compounded by a lack of resources in both the judicial system and Indian Health Services. Indian Health Service hospitals are historically extremely underfunded, which manifests in a shortage of birth control, STD testing services, and staff trained to do rape examinations. There are also significant legal barriers to Native women looking to prosecute for sexual assault. Rape is significantly underreported, and women who do attempt to bring their cases forward are often encouraged to not do so because other crime on reservations requires more immediate attention that consumes minimal police resources. Non-Native perpetrators who sexaully assault Native women on reservations are not able to be tried in tribal courts, which often causes these perpetrators to escape punishment and repeatedly commit crimes on tribal lands. In fact, more than 80% of sex crimes on reservations have non-Native perpetrators. Finally, tribal lands are oftentimes located in extremely rural areas, making it extremely difficult for victims to seek care and legal retribution outside of the reservation.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/opinion/native-americans-and-the-violence-against-women-act.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/us/native-americans-struggle-with-high-rate-of-rape.html