Domestic Violence Against Native American Women

Written by: Michael Arnold

It has been reported that almost 46% of all Native American women have been victims of some sort of physical abuse. These type of physical abuse can include rape, stalking, dating violence, and/or domestic violence. It has also been predicted that about one in three Indian women will experience some type of physical trauma at some point in their life as well. It is a very alarming statistic and one that should be brought to light more often. Before taking this course and doing my research for this blog post, I had no idea that it was this bad. I knew that it happened of course, because it happens in everywhere, regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, religion, etc. But for it to be almost 50% of all Native American women that will either be raped, stalked, or a victim of domestic violence was for sure a wake up call. And then the staggering statistic of one in three Indian women will experience physical trauma in their lives was breathtaking, and not in a positive way.

What can cause more insult to injury, considering the history dating back to the colonization of American by the white man and the relationship the Native Americans have had with the white man since then, is that a report from 1990 from the Department of Justice says that 80% of the Native American women that were victims of rape or physical abuse were perpetrated by non-native Americans. Talk about everything that has happened to the Native Americans in their recent history of the past 200 years. They welcomed in visitors who were quick to take everything from them: their land, food, health, animals, religion, etc. They were pushed further and further West into the country because the colonists kept expanding their territory. Then when it became popular to go West in search of land and gold, where else did these people have left to go?

To put it plainly, not only has everything tangible been taken from them by the white man, but now their virtue, which I’m sure many if not all hold sacred, is being taken away too by those same people who took everything else.

Sadly, yes there is more bad news on this issue, since the assailants are more than likely white or other non-native American men, they are outside the jurisdiction of tribal law enforcement. Basically, these non-native men can come onto a reservation, rape a Native American woman, and totally get away with it, with no consequences from the law because they are not legally part of the reservation and are therefore acting in an area of land where they are invisible to the law that governs the reservation. The rate of sexual assault among Native American women is not only about 50% of all Native American women, but also over a third of those women have been raped at least once during their lifetime. That rate of rape is nearly 2.5 times higher than that of the white woman, according to a 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice.

Now I said earlier that the white man acts invisibly to the law when they sexually assault a Native American on a reservation. While this is true, there is a clarification that needs to be said. When a white person rapes a Native American, it is the federal government that would have jurisdiction over those crimes, not the government of the tribe, or even the government of the state. While that seems to be fair and pretty great because if a rape case is immediately sent to federal court, there are sure to be harsh consequences to the person that committed the rape. Or so you’d think. According to a 2010 Government Accountability Office, when tribal law enforcement sent sexual abuse cases to the federal government, federal prosecutors declined more than 66% of them.

It is very clear that there needs to be more focus and knowledge on this topic based on the fact that over half of the sexual assault cases that are submitted to federal court are declined. I feel that if there was more knowledge of this issue out there to the general public that we could see that percentage of declined cases decrease. The Native American women say that they know they aren’t safe from things like assault and rape, and they are trying every day to protect themselves. They know it is currently something that they have to live with. But wouldn’t it be nice if one day they won’t have to live in fear of being raped? What if one day they would be able to have their case in federal court, punishing the person who committed the crime? With more and more ways to get information out to the public, we can all work together to bring this issue to the forefront of the media and bring justice and a sense of comfort to the Native American women.

Sources

“Bleak Images of a Native American Reservation Reveal What Life Is Really like for Its Inhabitants .” VT, 21 Aug. 2017, vt.co/news/us/bleak-images-native-american-reservation-show-life-like-inhabitants/.

Bleir, Garet, et al. “Murdered and Missing Native American Women Challenge Police and Courts.” Center for Public Integrity, publicintegrity.org/politics/murdered-and-missing-native-american-women-challenge-police-and-courts/.

PowWows.com, About. “Native American Issues Today: Current Problems & Struggles 2020.” Welcome to PowWows.com, 5 Jan. 2020, www.powwows.com/issues-and-problems-facing-native-americans-today/.