Amnesty International Applauds Passage of Amendment Granting Funds to Combat Sexual Violence Against Native American and Alaska Native Women
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 26, 2007
11:26 AM
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CONTACT: Amnesty International
Ben Somberg, 212-633-4268
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Amnesty International Applauds Passage of Amendment Granting Funds to Combat Sexual Violence Against Native American and Alaska Native Women
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WASHINGTON - JULY 26 - Amnesty International today applauded a vote taken in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday evening, July 25, for passage of an amendment to provide funding for initiatives that will help combat the widespread sexual abuse of Indigenous women in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Justice statistics, more than 1 in 3 Native American and Alaska Native women will be raped during their lifetime. The amendment passed overwhelmingly, 412 to 18.
"This vote is an important step toward justice for Native American and Alaska Native women," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA. "Rape and sexual assault of Indigenous women in the United States is an enormous problem, a scourge the government can and must confront."
The Inslee-Burton amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill provides $1 million for the creation of a tribal sex offender and protection order registry to identify serial perpetrators. It also allots $1 million for a baseline study on sexual violence committed against Indigenous women in the United States.
"These initiatives are a crucial step in the right direction, and Congress should retain these allocations when the bill goes to conference. But more needs to be done," said Cox. "It is disappointing that the Bush administration and the Congress are not fully funding the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Full funding of VAWA is critical and would help ensure that Native American and Alaska Native women have access to valuable resources to prevent abuses and assist survivors."
The Inslee-Burton amendment brings the House appropriations for the two initiatives into line with funding levels approved previously by the Senate. Both measures in the amendment are key provisions of the Tribal Title (Title IX), a part of the VAWA that seeks to improve safety and justice for American Indian and Alaska Native women. Title IX was first included in VAWA in 2005 following the efforts of Native American and Alaska Native women's activists.
An Amnesty International report in April 2007 found that Indigenous women are being denied protection against rape and sexual assault and that there is a systematic failure to punish those responsible for these crimes. Following the release of the report, Congress has held hearings and is considering steps it might take to begin to address the problem of sexual violence against Native American and Alaska Native women.
Amnesty International has called for a number of further measures to confront the problem:
* The Bush administration and the U.S. Congress should fully fund the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
* The U.S. Congress should increase funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS) and IHS contract facilities. Such funds should be used to increase the number of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners so that survivors may receive timely forensic medical examinations, at no charge, following sexual assault. Furthermore, the IHS should ensure that appropriate protocols are in place for the treatment of survivors of sexual violence.
* The federal government should provide the necessary funding to enable tribal authorities to develop and maintain tribal courts and for police forces in Indian Country and Alaska Native villages, with particular attention paid to improving coverage in rural areas.
* Federal and state governments should consult and cooperate with tribal nations, and Native women in particular, to institute effective plans of action to stop sexual violence against Native women.
For more information and to read Amnesty International's report Maze of injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA, please visit: www.amnestyusa.org/maze
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