Mar 26 2009
Native American/Native Alaskan Women Suffer Epidemic Rape
A Congressional subcommittee held a hearing yesterday featuring testimony by a leading expert on sexual violence against Indigenous women in the U.S. Charon Asetoyer, executive director of the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center addressed a disturbing epidemic of sexual violence affecting one out of three Native American and Alaska Native women and stressed the need to create Sexual assault Nurse Examiner programs in all Indian Health Service hospitals. According to the US Dept. of Justice’s own statistics, Native American and Alaska Native women are nearly three times more likely to be raped than women in the US in general. Too often Native American victims of rape have to go through a maze of federal, state, tribal and local laws to achieve any justice at all, while the agencies responsible for seeking justice on their behalf are severely underfunded and inadequate. Federal law limits the criminal sentences that tribal courts can impose and prohibits tribal courts from trying non-Indian suspects – even though data collected by the Department of Justice shows that up to 86% of perpetrators are non-Indian.
GUEST: Charon Asetoyer, Executive Director of the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center.
Read Amnesty International’s Report, Maze of Injustice here: http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/maze/report.pdf.
Email messages to Senator Dianne Feinstein can be sent here: http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe. Or call Senator Feinstein at (202) 224-3841.
12 Responses to “Native American/Native Alaskan Women Suffer Epidemic Rape”
Great topic to discuss. For more information please visit the Tribal Court Clearinghouse http://www.tribal-institute.org/
No alcohol. No rape.
On our res: know alcohol, know rape.
Simple.
The only time I was safe from family rape was when I was away at BIA boarding school. Fapr Fear came back when school let out and we had to go back home.
in the days before the europeans
entered the new world as they called
it, the native socities were more
civilised, and women could go about
their lives in their villages, with
out fear of molestation in any shape
or form. but with our so called
modern civilisation !! fear has become
endemic, and the word “abuse” was not
in any native tongue until that
time of european encroachment.
it’s another disease of the european
mind set, for they are constantly at
war with themselves, makes me
ashamed to be european.
people can only empower themselves
when they feel they can openly declare
such events happen, but like it is
over here, the law seems to make the
victim appear to be the blame, not
the criminal, let’s hope and pray
the new president can help bring
such change as to it being the
crinimal “the blame ” and end the
shame of this abuse.
Well, let’s see. Native women are raped by men of all colors. If native women fight back, they are brought up on charges. If they file a rape, besides ALL the red tape and the embarrassement of treatment by the medical profession, the rapist brings in all his friends to testify against her. This BS is as old as God. If you don’t live it, you have no idea of what native women go through. I agree, booze is a big problem but only one of the problems. Native women are not ever treated as an equal or with respect. Men are brought up to think as women as garbage to wait on their very needs. This is lack of education and punishment for transgresions. How in the world do you expect women to recoup their self respect and self esteem when they grow up with this sort of attitude. Men need education from birth and women need to start learning they are worth far more to the world than men. The FBI only smiles at rape cases as they too are just men with no understanding of what a rape does to a woman. The cycle has continued for years and just keeps on going with no one really giving a damn. Look at the Yakima nation in Yakima WA where 17 women have been murdered in 16 years and the FBI has failed to try to even solve one case. However, 2 men were just murdered last week and the FBI is all over the case. Women need to learn self defense to at least fight back and maybe win a fight or two. If enough native men get their a@@ kicked, it may embarrasse them enough to stop. And PLEASE, tell me who taught these men to disrespect women….the white man, of course when they “took” native women at will.
good article and a i agree with and those women should get help
Welcome to the land of Palin…
Will we women ever find ourselves to be safe? I hope so…in my lifetime. From my lips to the Creator’s ears…
The time has come for those blind to justice see that their actions of hatred have consequences.
is depressing to know that humans evolved not in morals. Is increasingly animalizado. This is the absence of himself.So when my God?
Where’s Governor Sarah while all the violence against women is going on in the state of Alaska…
It makes me so ashamed to be a part of the human race when I hear stories like this. I’ve been a victim of this heinous crime so I know how devastating it is. Most of us just suffer in silence as there’s little or no justice in the legal system. Some people say the men behave like animals, well I’ve never seen an animal treat one of it’s own kind like that and I think human beings are a terrible scar on the universe with all it’s beauty. My thoughts and prayers go out to these beautiful women. May the great spirit protect you all from harm.
Amazing interview! Thank you so much for taking the time to bring attention to such an important issue. Examining life on reservations in North America reveals appalling human rights violations that the US and Canadian governments condone with willfully blind eyes…the rest of us cannot be blind and silent. Thank you again.
What about forming support groups for these women? What about support groups for ‘Violence Against Women’ both for female AND male counterparts? What about rallying and protesting in public with signs and screams? If we could do it down here in the West, why can people do it up in the Arctic? The point is – if women want to start fighting back, they need to start somewhere!