South Dakota Measure 11

I received this in my email today and thought I'd share it with you.

WOMEN ARE SACRED
Vote "NO" on Initiated Measure 11
Protect Your Rights!
Keep abortion safe and legal!

"Women are sacred" is a sacred traditional teaching for the Dakota/Nakota/ Lakota Nations. Traditionally, decision-making regarding childbearing was the business of women. Those decisions were based on the health of the women and the good of all the Oyate. Those decisions were respected.

As women, our decision-making abilities have been taken from us in many ways. Our voices have been diminished throughout the centuries… until now. Those who do not understand our traditions will not silence us.

Our voices and decisions do not belong to a religion or a government legislature – you may not legislate our minds or our bodies. It is our inherent right as sovereign Dakota/Nakota/ Lakota women to make our own decisions.

Key issues to consider before you vote:

This measure will make it even harder for women to get an abortion. There would be only three exceptions that would grant an abortion option:

Risk of death to the pregnant woman or serious and irreversible injury to a major bodily organ or system.
Pregnancy as a result of a rape.
Pregnancy as a result of incest.

In all three of these "exceptions" the woman is forced to report her story and be judged by someone other than herself as to what is best for her health and life. These laws not only take away a woman's right to choose, but they also force her to report something that she may not want to, thus furthering her suffering and potentially challenging her safety and security.

Though there is nothing in this measure that prohibits the sale or prescribing of contraceptives, limiting access to legal abortions in this state is even more harmful because Emergency Contraception (EC) is hard to obtain. Not all hospitals provide a victim of rape with EC, such as Catholic Hospitals. Also, South Dakota has a refusal clause that allows pharmacists to refuse to fill a prescription for Emergency Contraception because of their religious or moral beliefs. This restriction further limits your ability to choose important aspects about your own health.

Press Release to be Delayed

I wanted to write and apologize to all donors for not getting the memorial package with the fundraiser information out to Senator Biden in a timely manner. My own mother took a turn for the worse in her battle with pancreatic cancer right at the end of the drive, and she died yesterday morning.

I won't be in the frame of mind to get everything together for a few more days, but I will definitely do it toward the end of next week.

Thanks for your understanding,
Betsy

A Press Release Will Be Forthcoming

Folks, on Sunday night, the Daily Kos community came together and ended the fundraiser.

You all are amazingly generous and compassionate people, and my hat goes off to each and every one of you.

We will now be working on a press release, and sending a package to Senator Biden's office that will include a letter explaining the history of the shelter and the Netroots' support for it, an official acknowledgment from the shelter, and your messages to Senator Biden's family and the Pretty Bird Woman House staff.

Thank you all so much for supporting this shelter. You are making a big difference in the lives of the women on the Standing Rock Reservation, who will now have a WARM shelter to escape to if they become victims of domestic violence.

Lets Honor the Biden Family's Loss with a Furnace In Bonny Jean Jacobs' Name

Many of you may know that Senator Joe Biden's mother-in-law died over the weekend.

One of Senator Biden's accomplishments in the Senate was the authorship of the Violence Against Women Act, which, among other things, provides funding for shelters like Pretty Bird Woman House.

I would like to propose that we honor the Biden family by buying a furnace for the shelter in his mother-in-law's name (Bonny Jean Jacobs).

What do you say? $5 or $10 from a couple of hundred people will do it. We can send an official card to the Biden family saying that the Netroots has done this in their name...

Are you in?

By the way October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which makes this tribute especially appropriate.



And, as usual:

Native American Women Face Poor IHS Care, Especially after Being Raped

Good article from the Redwood City Daily News.

Here are a few excerpts from an interview with Charon Asetoyer, who is from the Yankton Nakota Reservation in South Dakota, and is the founder of the Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center (link on right at Native Shop).

First, we see that other Federal agencies are aware of the problems with poor care through the Indian Health Service (IHS).

Not that you need to be reminded, but here are some statistics that give us an idea of the scope of the problem, again from the article:

Bernadine Healy, MD, former director of the National Institutes of Health, described the Indian Health Service (IHS) in 2004 as "everyone's worst nightmare of what government healthcare would look like. The system is riddled with crumbling facilities, mindless regulations, ancient equipment, and far too few nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and dentists." When it comes to the care of Indian women who have suffered sexual assault, the current IHS is all that and more.

One in three American Indian women (34.1 percent) experience rape in their lifetimes as compared with 18 percent of white women and 19 percent of African American women, according to a Department of Justice study. Despite this high rate, there are few nurses trained within the IHS as sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs), training which includes use of a police rape kit to gather forensic evidence and instruction on how to care for a rape victim in a respectful and medically appropriate manner. One report found that 44 percent of IHS facilities had no SANE-trained staff available. Other necessary care such as STD screening is also not being done.

The journalist posed the following questions to Ms. Asetoyer:

Q: What challenges face reservation-based Indian women who seek post-rape care?

A: At the local level, there are no standardized sexual assault policies and protocols within Indian Health Service emergency rooms. In some service units, there are protocols and procedures, but this is a federal agency that needs to be standardized - especially for Native American and Alaska Native women.

We also have a situation in which 44 percent do not even have [forensically] trained staff. If you don't have a rape kit done on a woman who has been raped, you don't have any forensic evidence. There needs to be trained SANE nurses able to do rape kits in every single reservation and Alaskan native village. You've got villages in Alaska where the plane only comes in on Wednesday. If you were raped on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, you have to wait that long - and they expect you not to bathe and wash away the evidence. That is totally unrealistic.

Q: Why do American Indian women receive less comparable care than women outside of the reservation?
A: Tribal leadership has their plate full just trying to keep our IHS facilities open - even though the incidence of sexual assault and rape is so high within the Indian community. But it is a top priority for victims and women. Even though health care is a right guaranteed to us through treaty, the IHS still has to work on financial authorization from Congress. We receive less than half of what every other American is afforded for health care, and this has allowed the IHS to deteriorate to the level that it is now. The doctors do an incredible job with the resources that they have, but they don't have resources necessary to improve the health status for us.

Ms. Asetoyer went on to describe how non-Native men know they can go into an area and rape the women with impunity, partly because of jurisdictional problems and partly because the IHS lacks enough personnel to administer rape kits and collect the forensic evidence necessary to prosecute them.

IHS does not have the staff or funding to set up women's shelters to help battered and sexually assaulted women, so it has been up to local community groups like Pretty Bird Women House to set up shelters. Currently, many reservations who lacked shelters are in the process of setting them up and hiring court advocates.

I've covered the jurisdictional problems that Amnesty International highlighted in their report last year, but this article highlights how the underfunded and understaffed Indian Health Service also contributes to the problem.

The article also serves as a reminder of what a big impact your help has had on the Standing Rock Reservation. The women face so many challenges to their health and well being, and the fact that there is now a functioning shelter located in a safe building (that YOU bought!!) is a huge help to them. The only reason it exists right now (aside from the incredible dedication of its director, Georgia Little Shield), is because of the generosity of the Netroots. I will always be in awe of that.

One more thing, I'm going to be continually reminding people that Pretty Bird Woman House will need a new furnace this winter. This is the last big ticket item that they need help with, since the federal grants that they've procured don't cover this expense.

On that note, see the post below.

Reminder: We Really Need a New Furnace

Hi everyone,

With the Netroots all consumed with the Presidential campaign, I wanted to delay pressing for funds for a new furnace until more people could focus on it. However, it's now getting colder, and the poor condition of the furnace will become more and more apparent as we get further into the fall.

So, can we re-kick off this fundraiser? If you're coming here for the first time, or, if you're a past contributor and are checking for news on the shelter, could you click on the ChipIn and give just $5 or $10? These small contributions from the many, many people who read this blog will quickly add up to a warm winter for battered women on the Standing Rock Reservation. Of course, we'd welcome large donations as well :)

Do you have your own Blogspot, LiveJournal, or Wordpress blog? If so, we'd be so grateful if you would either copy the ChipIn widget or link to the fundraiser.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Happy Anniversary SDCADVSA!!!

On Tuesday, the South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault celebrated its 30th Anniversary with ceremonies at Steamboat Park in Pierre from 12:30 to 5:00 pm.

For more information, see this article in the Argus Leader.

Congratulations!

If DOJ's Stonewalling on Stats on Refusals to Prosecute Crime in Indian Country Burns You UpToo....

OK folks, it's campaign season, and I was for the most part going to keep this blog out of that, but after the performance of Bush's DOJ appointees at Senator Dorgan's hearing yesterday (see the post below), I am steaming.

We cannot afford NOT to elect Barack Obama this year. John McCain has come out with statements way too close to current Bush policy for me to think it will be anything but continuing malign neglect of issues important to First Americans if he is elected.

Check out this video, and you'll see why Obama is the man for Indian Country. Part of it features a man from the Standing Rock Reservation:



We cannot continue to put up with political appointees who have nothing but contempt for Congress - we need change and we need it NOW.

Senators Grill DOJ Officials, Who Won't Provide Stats on Refusal to Prosecute Crime in Indian Country

Oh, is this typical of the Bush DOJ or what? Yesterday, in the hearing I announced in the post below, Senator Dorgan pointed out to DOJ officials that they routinely fail to go after 60% of cases in Indian Country. You would think DOJ would want to defend itself by providing statistics, but no...

(This is from an Indianz.com story)

Drew Wrigley, the U.S. Attorney for North Dakota, disputed suggestions that Indian crime is a low priority for the administration. He said "zero" percent of Indian cases are declined due to lack of resources.

...snip....

But Wrigley, who was nominated by President Bush, defended the department's decision to withhold data that would explain why cases are declined. He said providing the information would mislead the public and jeopardize criminal investigations.

Other committee members weren't convinced. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the vice chair, said the data will help improve law enforcement in Indian Country because it can shed light on areas of the system that need to be fixed.

...snip...

But Wrigley refused to agree there is a "problem" with the criminal justice system on reservations. "We don't know how to help you," said Tester of the refusal to provide information about declinations.

The Tribal Law and Order Act (S.3220) has a provision that would require the Justice Department to track all the cases it refuses to prosecute (declination rate).

Also, Syracuse University has a Transitional Records Access Clearinghouse on cases the DOJ declines to prosecute, if you want to do some detective work on your own.

From the Argus Leader:

According to a database maintained by Syracuse University and cited by committee chairman Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., U.S. attorneys failed to prosecute 50 percent of murder and manslaughter cases committed on Indian reservations from 2004 to 2007, 58 percent of serious assaults, 72 percent of child sex crimes and 76 percent of sex crimes involving adults.
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"Is there any wonder that many Native Americans have lost faith in the criminal justice system?" asked Dorgan, who threatened to subpoena the Justice Department to get the information. "This is a national disgrace, and it has to be dealt with."

..snip..

Overall, the violent crime rate on reservations is twice the national average, and methamphetamine addiction rates are three times higher, according to the committee. Meanwhile, fewer than 3,000 tribal and federal law enforcement officials patrol more than 56 million acres, less than half of the police presence in comparable non-Indian communities nationwide.

"(Violent crime) is one of the reasons we don't have economic development on reservations like we should have," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., a committee member.

A national disgrace indeed. When I see how DOJ treats crime on Indian reservations I am often incredulous that we can tolerate this in the 21st Century. It is testimony to how invisible the Native American population has been to the rest of this country. THAT is the biggest disgrace of them all.

THURSDAY: Sen. Dorgan Holding Hearing on Failure to Prosecute Crimes Against Native Women

I received this notice from Amnesty International today:

Tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. the Senate Subcommittee on Indian Affairs will hold an oversight hearing looking at the Federal government's failure to prosecute crimes in Indian Country. Amnesty International, which last year issued the report Maze of Injustice: the failure to protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA [see link on right side of this page], is submitting written testimony about the issue(attached). Renata Rendon, Americas Advocacy Director for Amnesty International USA, will attend the hearing and can be reached for interviews or more information at 202/544-0200 or 646/269-1152.

This is good news!! Perhaps now women in Indian Country will start to have the same protection under the law as the rest of the women in this country.
Here is the Amnesty testimony:

Declining to Prosecute: The Failure to Protect Native Women from Sexual Violence in the United States

“To a sexual predator, the failure to prosecute sex crimes against American Indian women is an invitation to prey with impunity.” - Dr. David Lisak, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Massachusetts

In April 2007 Amnesty International released a report entitled “Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA”. Research on the sexual assault and rape of Native American women was initiated upon learning of U.S. Department of Justice statistics indicating that Native American and Alaska Native women are more than 2.5 times more likely than other women in the United States to be raped. According to these statistics, more than 1 in 3 Native American and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes, and 86 percent of the perpetrators of these crimes are non-Native men.

In order to achieve justice, Native American survivors of sexual violence frequently have to navigate a maze of tribal, state and federal law. Currently, tribal courts do not have authority to prosecute non-Native perpetrators meaning that only federal prosecutors can pursue such cases. Amnesty International’s research suggests that prosecutions for crimes of sexual violence against Native American women are rare in federal courts.

The lack of comprehensive and centralized data collection by federal agencies renders it impossible to obtain accurate statistics about prosecution rates for crimes of sexual violence against Native women. Amnesty International sent questionnaires to the 93 individual US Attorneys who prosecute crimes within Indian Country at the federal level seeking information on prosecution rates for crimes of sexual violence committed against Native American women. Amnesty International was informed by the Executive Office of US Attorneys that individual US attorneys would not be permitted to participate in the survey. The Executive Office for US Attorneys did provide Amnesty International with a list of some of the cases of sexual violence arising in Indian Country that had been prosecuted in recent years. Of the 84 cases provided, only 20 involved adult women. The remaining cases mostly involved children. In the cases listed, prosecutions for sexual violence against adult Native American women took place in only eight of the 93 districts, and only Arizona and South Dakota saw more than two.

While data on sexual violence specifically from Indian Country is not compiled, from October 1, 2002 to September 30, 2003, federal prosecutors declined to prosecute 60.3 per cent of sexual violence cases. These statistics include all cases involving Native and non-Native victims, nevertheless, the numbers provide some indication of the extent to which these crimes go unpunished. Significantly, between 2000 and 2003, the Bureau of Indian Affairs was consistently among the investigating agencies with the highest percentage of cases declined by federal prosecutors.

Congress should develop comprehensive plans of action to stop violence against American Indian women and ensure that survivors have access to justice.

Key Recommendations:

* Federal authorities should, in consultation with Native American peoples, collect and publish detailed and comprehensive data on rape and other sexual violence that shows the Indigenous or other status of victims and perpetrators and the localities where such offences take place, the number of cases referred for prosecution, the number declined by prosecutors and the reasons why.

* Prosecutors should vigorously prosecute cases of sexual violence against Native American women, and should be sufficiently resourced to ensure that the cases are treated with the appropriate priority and processed without undue delay. Any decision not to proceed with a case, together with rationale for the decision, should be promptly communicated to the survivor of sexual violence and any other prosecutor with jurisdiction.

Just a Reminder of Why We Do This....

Furnace Drive to Begin Shortly

When they bought the new house, Pretty Bird Woman House board members did not notice that the furnace was nearly dead. Before the winter, they will need a new one. While they have grant money to fund normal house operations and staff salaries, their current grants do not cover that expense.

That's where we come in. I am going to be starting a fund drive at the end of September for the furnace. If you would rite about the furnace project on your own blogs, I would be grateful.

Estimated cost of a new furnace is $5,000.

South Dakota winters are brutal, so the fund drive must begin soon.

Thank you all for your support.

Broken Justice in Indian Country - NY Times OpEd Today!

The issues that are front and center in sexual violence and domestic abuse in Indian Country have finally made it into an OpEd in the New York Times! The article is by N. Bruce Duthu, a professor of Native American studies at Dartmouth.

Last year's Amnesty International report (see the information links list on this blog), Maze of Injustice, did a world of good to get attention for the issue, including getting yours truly involved in helping the shelter, and this OpEd will certainly inspire others to get involved as well.

Here are some excerpts from the piece, which you can find here.

ONE in three American Indian women will be raped in their lifetimes, statistics gathered by the United States Department of Justice show. But the odds of the crimes against them ever being prosecuted are low, largely because of the complex jurisdictional rules that operate on Indian lands. Approximately 275 Indian tribes have their own court systems, but federal law forbids them to prosecute non-Indians. Cases involving non-Indian offenders must be referred to federal or state prosecutors, who often lack the time and resources to pursue them.

snip....

This section of the article deals with the reason things are such a mess in law enforcement

Thirty years ago, the Supreme Court formalized the prohibition against tribes prosecuting non-Indians with its decision in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe. In this case, a Pacific Northwest tribe was attempting to try two non-Indian residents of the Port Madison Reservation for causing trouble during the annual Chief Seattle Days celebration — one for assaulting an officer and resisting arrest and the other for recklessly endangering another person and harming tribal property. The court held that the tribe, as a “domestic dependent nation,” did not possess the full measure of sovereignty enjoyed by states and the national government, especially when it came to the affairs of non-Indian citizens.

Then in 1990, the court extended its Oliphant ruling to cases involving tribal prosecution of Indian offenders who are not members of that tribe. Congress subsequently passed new legislation to reaffirm the power of tribes to prosecute non-member Indian offenders, but it left the Oliphant ruling intact.

This means that when non-Indian men commit acts of sexual violence against Indian women, federal or state prosecutors must fill the jurisdictional void. But law enforcement in sexual violence cases in Indian country is haphazard at best, recent studies show, and it rarely leads to prosecution and conviction of non-Indian offenders. The Department of Justice’s own records show that in 2006, prosecutors filed only 606 criminal cases in all of Indian country. With more than 560 federally recognized tribes, that works out to a little more than one criminal prosecution for each tribe.

So, the federal government must prosecute these crimes, but it is so ineffective that it is kind of useless. No wonder many women don't even bother to report these kinds of crimes - it's a lot of further pain and in the vast majority of cases, the perp is never prosecuted.

Professor Duthu ends his article with this:

Congress recently allocated $750 million for enhancing public safety in Indian country. This money will help tribes hire and train more police, build detention facilities and augment federal investigative and prosecutorial capacity for Indian country crimes. Ideally, the grant process will be efficient enough to make sure that this money reaches the places most in need.

But financial aid will not be enough to stop sexual violence against Indian women. Tribal courts have grown in sophistication over the past 30 years, and they take seriously the work of administering justice. Congress must support their efforts by closing the legal gaps that allow violent criminals to roam Indian country unchecked.

I'll be keeping track of this and letting you know if any legislation comes up that you can write to your Congressional Representatives about.

Training Announcement

Tribal Codes: Protecting Women from Sexual Violence & Stalking

September 23-25, 2008

This training event will be an interactive, hands-on, 2 1/2 day workshop on drafting or revising tribal sexual assault and stalking codes

Whether your tribal nation has existing tribal laws on sexual assault and stalking or is starting from scratch, this event will provide you with knowledge to begin crafting customized sexual assault and stalking tribal laws that meet the needs of your community including Adam Walsh compliance. Participants will walk away with specific strategies for law reform, including examples of laws from tribes around the country. No experience necessary.


Mystic Lake Casino and Hotel
2400 Mystic Lake Blvd., Prior Lake MN
www.mysticlake. com

$600 tuition for 2 1/2 day training – includes a copy of TLPI’s Tribal Sexual Assault Code Development Resource Guide and all training materials.

Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDTs) are encourages to attend.

This is not an Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) sponsored event.
If you wish to use OVW grant funds to attend, please check with your OVW grant manager.

Please complete the attached registration form or online registration form (www.tlpi.org) and/or contact Arlene Downwind White

Arlene Downwind White
Tribal Law and Policy Institute
1619 Dayton Ave., Suite 305 St. Paul, MN 55104
(651)644-1125 or FAX (651)644-1157
Email: arlene@tlpi. org

Please Contact Your Congressional Representatives (UPDATED July 29)

Georgia Little Shield has asked everyone to contact their Senators about the Tribal Law and Order Act introduced by Senator Dorgan, with Senators Murkowski, Biden, Domenici, Baucus, Bingaman, Lieberman, Kyl, Johnson, Smith, Cantwell, Thune, and Tester co-sponsoring.

You can contact your member of Congress through Congress.org


UPDATE: Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin introduced this in the House on Friday, July 25th. You can see her statement, which was published online at Indianz.com here.

According to Senator Dorgan's office, the law would help by:

• Enhancing coordination between the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and tribal communities about the investigation and prosecution of Indian country crimes.

• Encouraging more aggressive prosecution of reservation crimes at the federal level. Between 2004 and 2007, the United States declined to prosecute 62 percent of Indian country criminal cases referred to federal prosecutors.

• Enhancing the sentencing authority of tribal courts to punish offenders with up to three years imprisonment. Current law limits tribal court sentencing authority to no more than one year

• Expanding programs that authorize tribal police to make arrests for all crimes committed on Indian lands, and that provide direct access to national crime databases to arm police with vital criminal history information about suspects.

• Investing in existing programs meant to improve courts, jails, youth programs, and policing efforts in Indian Country.

• Addressing the epidemic of domestic violence and sexual assault in Indian Country by enhancing training and coordination to aid the investigation and prosecution of crimes of sexual violence.

Go here for the full press release.

Here's part of the Amnesty International press release on the legislation (for the full press release, see the posts below):

The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2008 is in direct response to concerns raised by tribal leaders, tribal organizations, Native American and Alaska Native women and the AI report, which helped bring widespread attention to the high rates of crimes on tribal lands and the obstacles that victims face in securing justice. Specifically, the Act is intended to clarify the responsibilities of federal, state, and tribal governments with respect to crimes committed in tribal communities; increase coordination and communication among federal, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies; restore tribal governments with necessary authority, resources, and information to address crimes committed on tribal land; combat violence against Indian and Alaska Native women; and to increase and standardize the collection and distribution of criminal data among all levels of government responsible for responding to and investigating crimes in tribal communities, including the data necessary to establish whether or not crimes are being prosecuted.

Georgia Little Shield Interviewed on NPR July 23rd

Georgia Little Shield was interviewed today on NPR for a story they did on the new Senate bill bolstering tribal power to prosecute rape cases. If you want to listen to the whole story, here is the link.

Way to go Georgia!

It is so gratifying to know that at least this time, the government is at least attempting to address this problem.

UPDATE: There's also an article on the bill in the Rapid City Journal.

Congratulations to Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin

From the Rapid City Journal

WASHINGTON -- South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is expecting her first child in late December.

In an e-mail to friends and supporters, Herseth Sandlin and husband, former Texas Rep. Max Sandlin, said they were overjoyed to share the news. She said they are looking forward to a "particularly blessed holiday."

Rep. Herseth-Sandlin has been a true friend of the Pretty Bird Woman House and we congratulate her on this wonderful occasion.

Breaking News: Legislation on Law and Order in Indian Country

This is an Amnesty International Press Release:

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL APPLAUDS INTRODUCTION OF LANDMARK LEGISLATION ADDRESSING JURISDICTIONAL MAZE THAT ALLOWS RAPE OF NATIVE WOMEN TO GO UNPUNISHED
----
Legislation is a 'Tremendous Step Forward' for Native Rights in the United States; Should be Further Strengthened in Collaboration With Tribal Leaders

(Washington, D.C.) -- Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) applauded today's introduction of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2008, a groundbreaking attempt to tackle the complex jurisdictional maze that allows violent crime against American Indians to go unabated. The legislation, introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, includes a section that specifically addresses disturbing rates of sexual violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women, a subject that Amnesty International drew attention to in its 2007 report, Maze of Injustice: the failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA. The legislation is also co-sponsored by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Jon Tester (D-MT) and John Thune (R-SD).

"This legislation is an historic effort to tackle major jurisdictional challenges that allow crimes against Native American and Alaska Native peoples to flourish," said Larry Cox, executive director of AIUSA. "It will also open the door for Congress to address erosion of tribal authority. It is gratifying that the legislation is receiving bi-partisan support from a wide range of Senators, as this is a tremendous step forward in the fight to improve justice for Native peoples in this country."

The Amnesty International (AI) report exposed the disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence that Native American and Alaska Native women suffer -- 2.5 times higher than for non-native women in the United States, according to Justice Department statistics -- and the complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions that often allows perpetrators to rape with impunity. The lack of trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) at Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities to provide forensic exams and gather essential evidence is another factor that leads to a failure to prosecute. The AI report raised concerns about the lack of prosecutions and the need for accurate information about prosecution rates.

The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2008 is in direct response to concerns raised by tribal leaders, tribal organizations, Native American and Alaska Native women and the AI report, which helped bring widespread attention to the high rates of crimes on tribal lands and the obstacles that victims face in securing justice. Specifically, the Act is intended to clarify the responsibilities of federal, state, and tribal governments with respect to crimes committed in tribal communities; increase coordination and communication among federal, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies; restore tribal governments with necessary authority, resources, and information to address crimes committed on tribal land; combat violence against Indian and Alaska Native women; and to increase and standardize the collection and distribution of criminal data among all levels of government responsible for responding to and investigating crimes in tribal communities, including the data necessary to establish whether or not crimes are being prosecuted.

Amnesty International noted that while the importance of the legislation cannot be underestimated, additional changes are needed before enactment to ensure that the legislation will benefit all Native American and Alaska Native peoples.

Amnesty International said that the welfare and safety of American Indian and Alaska Native women -- as citizens of tribal nations -- is directly linked to the authority and capacity of their nations to address violent crimes. The organization said that it is critical that the legislation be developed in direct collaboration and with the participation and consent of Native American and Alaska Native peoples, and that it must ensure that tribal authority is restored and maintained.

Amnesty International also called on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, which handles funding levels for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service, to seize this opportunity to increase funds to these critically under-resourced agencies. Without appropriate funding for law enforcement and medical experts that respond to Indian victims of violent crime, the problem will persist, the organization said.

"Given the historic developments this year, we now need Congress to follow through and ensure that this legislation is strengthened and passed," said Renata Rendón, Americas advocacy director for AIUSA. "Lawmakers must strive to increase support for this Act, improve its content through meaningful dialogue with Native leaders and advocates, and ensure its impact is actually felt."

In a one-year update to the original Maze of Injustice report, AI noted that throughout the year lawmakers have taken other notable steps to address the injustices perpetrated against Native women. For example, the U.S. Senate passed the Indian Health Care Improvement Act in February 2008, with an amendment by Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) that would seeks to mandate that the IHS develop standardized sexual assault policies and protocols in cooperation with tribes.

AI also noted promising initiatives on the local level:

* In Oklahoma, a law was passed mandating access to free sexual assault forensic examinations (rape kits) for all victims of sexual assault.

* The Alaska Senate established a task force to review the Village Police Safety Officer Program. The task force published a report in February 2008 recommending enhanced efforts to recruit and retain officers, thereby increasing staffing.

* On Standing Rock Sioux Reservation (North Dakota and South Dakota), the town council of McLaughlin approved Pretty Bird Woman House's zoning application to establish a shelter for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. It is the only one on the reservation.

These developments are welcome, but AI is concerned that they have not amounted to actual change on the ground. Local advocates surveyed for the Maze of Injustice update told AI that they had seen little or no improvement for Native women in the last year. To ensure concrete and measurable change, it is crucial that all relevant bodies in the federal government, in consultation with tribal authorities, take immediate action. As a start, the IHS should adopt and implement national uniform protocols on dealing with sexual violence and prioritize the establishment of SANE programs, while U.S. attorneys must begin comprehensive data collection that is made public, so that the number of sexual assault cases prosecuted is clear. For any cases that are not prosecuted, a reason should be given for why.

"The urgency of this issue is undiminished," said Cox. "This opportunity for lasting change must not be lost."

_______________

STATEMENT OF ZAYNAB NAWAZ
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA
July 23, 2008

(Zaynab is the communications coordinator, and gave the statement at the AI press conference)

Good afternoon.
My name is Zaynab Nawaz and I am a campaigner at Amnesty International, here today representing more than 400,000 members in the United States, and more than 2 million across the world.

I want to thank Senators Dorgan and Murkowski; Senators Johnson, Domenici and Thune, for your leadership in working for safety and justice in tribal communities.

We at Amnesty International were appalled when we learned that more than one in three Native American and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes. And we found it shocking that they are more than two and one-half times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in general in the United States. In researching our 2007 report, Maze of Injustice, we found not only that these crimes are incredibly horrific and widespread, but that all too often, the perpetrators are not brought to justice.

In working on this issue, I met Jami Rozell, a Cherokee woman in Oklahoma who was raped on state land. She decided to seek prosecution five months later but never saw her case brought to trial because the police had destroyed the forensic evidence.

When Native American and Alaska Native women report a crime, they face a dizzying maze of tribal, state and federal laws, and a chronic shortage of funds for law enforcement and health services that result in a denial of justice for thousands of women. Native women often do not get any police response, may never get a forensic examination and may never see their case prosecuted.

The majority of rape cases on tribal lands referred to the federal courts are reportedly never brought to trial. The Justice Department doesn't compile statistics on prosecutions of these cases, so it is impossible to know the true extent to the failure to prosecute occurs.

The obstacles to justice for these crimes are numerous -- but they are not insurmountable.

If passed, this bill will ensure that police officers are trained on how to respond to reports of sexual violence, and the Indian Health Service will finally be required to establish a standardized protocol for responding to survivors of sexual assault and rape, so that forensic examinations can be administered. This will help ensure that critical forensic evidence be obtained for the potential prosecution. And this bill requires U.S. attorneys -- finally -- to publish data showing the number of sexual assault cases that are prosecuted, and to give an explanation for any cases that are not. This is not too much to ask in the United States of America.

These components of Senator Dorgan's bill may sound simple, yet their impact promises to be tremendous. This bill can help take apart the jurisdictional maze that has been an obstruction to justice for too long.

This legislation is nothing less than a historic effort to tackle the loopholes that allow crimes against Native American and Alaska Native women to continue with impunity. This is an opportunity not for a short-term fix but for lasting change, change that is long overdue.

In moving forward, the members of Congress -- and all of us working on this issue -- need to ensure that this legislation benefits all Native American and Alaska Native peoples, and that it works toward ensuring tribal authority to protect Native women.

We are not under the illusion that this gap in justice is going to be solved overnight, but neither are we too patient when we see such a pressing wrong that must be remedied. The opportunity for repairing the maze of injustice is here and should not be missed.

Amnesty International encourages every member of the Senate to review this legislation and work with Senators Dorgan and Murkowski to make it even stronger. Together we can take a giant step toward ending violence against Native American and Alaska Native women.

Thank you.

Thanks for blogging PBWH at Netroots Nation

Thank you Heidi, aka Blissing on the Daily Kos, for blogging about the panel at Netroots Nation -- she was also the one who created the YouTube video that Andy posted below. You can see her Daily Kos diary here.

Also thank you to Amie Newman for the very nice article she did on her blog, RH (as in Reproductive Health) Reality Check, after she also attended the panel. Her post is here.

Andy also has a diary describing the panel over at Street Prophets, which you can find here. Great job on that, Andy.

Netroots Nation '08

I'm very tired after going to Netroots Nation, but I did want to blog that Georgia Little Shield, Director of Pretty Bird Woman House and Tinnekkia Williams, who is on the Board of Directors for PBWH came to Austin for Netroots Nation 2008!

Amanda Flott from Amnesty International also attended and provided a great deal of literature on the issue of violence against indigenous women in the United States.

Some thoughtful person (thank you!) posted a video clip of the panel on You Tube:


Thanks everyone for your support!!