Post by Marks - the Earth's Sun on Jul 10, 2005 16:32:20 GMT -5
Posted June 14, 2005
Native American tribes urge extension of sex-assault law
By Patti Zarling
pzarling@greenbaypressgazette.com
ASHWAUBENON — Preserving the Violence Against Women Act is of primary importance to Native American females, who are victims of sexual assault at far greater rates than other women in the U.S., tribal leaders say.
“We speak now in a unified voice because the programs in VAWA expire on Sept. 30,” said Juana Majel-Dixon, chairwoman of National Congress of American Indians’ Task Force to End Violence Against Indian Women, at a news conference Monday. “Allowing VAWA to expire would send a devastating message to American Indian and Alaska Native women and a green light to perpetrators of violent crimes.”
Majel-Dixon is one of many national Native American leaders invited to the NCAI’s mid-year conference, being held at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in Ashwaubenon this week. The conference started Sunday and runs through Wednesday.
She said that, while nearly one in four women in the U.S. will experience at least one physical assault by a partner, one in three American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped during their lifetimes, and six in 10 will be assaulted. Indian women are stalked at twice the rate of any other population, she said.
Two-thirds of sexual assaults against Indian women are committed by non-Indians, Majel-Dixon said, thus indicating that laws giving tribes no jurisdiction over non-tribal members should be modified. Native Americans now must rely on U.S. Attorneys offices, and overwhelming caseloads mean many offenders aren’t prosecuted.
“There’s no way to punish the perpetrators,” she said.
The VAWA 2005, which is an update to the original VAWA passed in 1994, would, in part, increase funding for tribal programs to provide safety to women and children, help shelters and agencies to provide better service to those over 50 and women with disabilities, provide funding for rape crisis centers, train health care workers to recognize and respond to assault situations and create housing solutions for victims.
“Violence against women is not traditional to native cultures,” said Karen Artichoker, director of the Sacred Circle National Resource Center to End Violence Against Native Women. “Recognizing the sovereignty of Indian nations will increase safety of women and create stable communities free of violence.”
NCAI President Tex Hall said educating tribal members of the law’s importance is just one of the goals of the conference.
Entitled “Investing in our Future: Stronger Economies, Healthier Communities,” the conference, which attracted about 1,500 tribal members from throughout the U.S, aims to encourage tribes to create strong local economies, which in turn will help them create stronger communities.
“For far too long we’ve relied on supplemental dollars from the federal government, and, to a certain extent, state governments,” Wisconsin Oneida Chairwoman Tina Danforth said. “We need to develop our own economies, and they have to be outside of gaming.”
Native American tribes urge extension of sex-assault law
By Patti Zarling
pzarling@greenbaypressgazette.com
ASHWAUBENON — Preserving the Violence Against Women Act is of primary importance to Native American females, who are victims of sexual assault at far greater rates than other women in the U.S., tribal leaders say.
“We speak now in a unified voice because the programs in VAWA expire on Sept. 30,” said Juana Majel-Dixon, chairwoman of National Congress of American Indians’ Task Force to End Violence Against Indian Women, at a news conference Monday. “Allowing VAWA to expire would send a devastating message to American Indian and Alaska Native women and a green light to perpetrators of violent crimes.”
Majel-Dixon is one of many national Native American leaders invited to the NCAI’s mid-year conference, being held at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in Ashwaubenon this week. The conference started Sunday and runs through Wednesday.
She said that, while nearly one in four women in the U.S. will experience at least one physical assault by a partner, one in three American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped during their lifetimes, and six in 10 will be assaulted. Indian women are stalked at twice the rate of any other population, she said.
Two-thirds of sexual assaults against Indian women are committed by non-Indians, Majel-Dixon said, thus indicating that laws giving tribes no jurisdiction over non-tribal members should be modified. Native Americans now must rely on U.S. Attorneys offices, and overwhelming caseloads mean many offenders aren’t prosecuted.
“There’s no way to punish the perpetrators,” she said.
The VAWA 2005, which is an update to the original VAWA passed in 1994, would, in part, increase funding for tribal programs to provide safety to women and children, help shelters and agencies to provide better service to those over 50 and women with disabilities, provide funding for rape crisis centers, train health care workers to recognize and respond to assault situations and create housing solutions for victims.
“Violence against women is not traditional to native cultures,” said Karen Artichoker, director of the Sacred Circle National Resource Center to End Violence Against Native Women. “Recognizing the sovereignty of Indian nations will increase safety of women and create stable communities free of violence.”
NCAI President Tex Hall said educating tribal members of the law’s importance is just one of the goals of the conference.
Entitled “Investing in our Future: Stronger Economies, Healthier Communities,” the conference, which attracted about 1,500 tribal members from throughout the U.S, aims to encourage tribes to create strong local economies, which in turn will help them create stronger communities.
“For far too long we’ve relied on supplemental dollars from the federal government, and, to a certain extent, state governments,” Wisconsin Oneida Chairwoman Tina Danforth said. “We need to develop our own economies, and they have to be outside of gaming.”