Indian Women
In an article posted on May 11, 2007, on a website that bills itself as the “Nations’ Leading American Indian News Source,” Amnesty International (AI) has issued claims that found consistent injustices in the treatment of American Indian women in cases where violence against them are reported.
Results of the study are published in a report called ''Maze of Injustice - The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA.'' In the report, AI charges the US Department of Justice with creating substantial barriers facing American Indian women reporting crimes against them that involve rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Extreme poverty on the Indian reservations and among American Indian women themselves, both on and off the reservation, contributes to the problem. Health care is limited on most reservations and practically nonexistent on others. Many Indian women living outside reservations have no access to health care because of limited income.
One reservation mentioned specifically in the report is Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The reservation is located in a county that is regularly named the most impoverished in the country.
American Indian women confront obstacles in the medical arena, too, when trying to report crimes of rape and sexual violence. Impoverished Pine Ridge Reservation does not even have a rape test kit available for documenting such a crime.
The nearest place to document and report such a rape is Rapid City, 120 miles away from Pine Ridge, where the crime will be counted in the crime statistics for that city, not the reservation. It is interesting to note that Rapid City has the highest rate of rape per capita than any other in the country.
Cultural repercussions, including fear of retaliation and public scrutiny, are also cited as reasons why Indian women do not seek justice for these violent crimes against them. It is believed most cases of rape are simply not reported in Indian country because of the fear of intertribal consequences.
When Indian women do actually come forward to report a crime against them, the jurisdictional barriers and lack of clear policy governing the rights of these women become apparent. Questions arise as to whether the crime was committed on the reservation or off and which policing entity is responsible for the crime based on that location. These questions lead to a stalling of the prosecutorial system, leaving most allegations in limbo too long for trial.
The ethnic origin of the attacker of the American Indian women reporting crimes comes into question, too, when determining jurisdictional procedures. If the alleged perpetrator is Native American, justice falls into the hands one entity but into the hands of another if he is not Native American.
Advocates for the health and safety of American Indian women are hoping the AI report will shed light on this very disturbing situation and, perhaps, pave the way for improvements in the system of justice available to these ladies.
Please send any comments directly to the author, Joseph Paige.