More than one in three Native American or Alaska Native women will be raped at some point in their lives. Most do not seek justice because they know they will be met with inaction or indifference. As one support worker said, “Women don’t report because it doesn’t make a difference. Why report when you are just going to be revictimized?” Sexual violence against women is not only a criminal or social issue, it is a human rights abuse.

This report unravels some of the reasons why Indigenous women in the USA are at such risk of sexual violence and why survivors are so frequently denied justice. Chronic under-resourcing of law enforcement and health services, confusion over jurisdiction, erosion of tribal authority, discrimination in law and practice, and indifference – all these factors play a part. None of this is inevitable or irreversible. The voices of Indigenous women throughout this report send a message of courage and hope that change can and will happen.

PREFACE
This report is based on research carried out during 2005 and 2006 by Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) in consultation with Native American and Alaska Native organizations and individuals. The research draws on Amnesty International’s interviews with survivors of sexual violence and their families, activists, support workers, service providers and health workers.

A number of women spoke to Amnesty International on condition that their anonymity was guaranteed. Some have asked that certain details not be made public. In order to respect their wishes, details of names and locations on file with Amnesty International have been withheld.

Amnesty International also interviewed officials across the USA, including tribal, state and federal law enforcement officials and prosecutors, as well as tribal judges. Amnesty International met representatives from the federal agencies which share responsibility with tribal authorities for addressing or responding to crimes in Indian Country (defined as reservations, trust land, and communities).

Amnesty International sent questionnaires to the 93 individual US Attorneys, who prosecute crimes within Indian Country at federal level, seeking information on prosecution rates for crimes of sexual violence committed against Indigenous 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.

Amnesty International conducted a review of existing government and nongovernmental reports, including studies conducted by the US Department of Justice, law review articles and media reports of sexual violence against Native American and Alaska Native women. It also reviewed federal and state case law and legislation.

Amnesty International conducted detailed research in three locations with different policing and judicial arrangements (see Chapter 4: Issues of jurisdiction): the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North and South Dakota, the State of Oklahoma and the State of Alaska. Each location was selected for its specific jurisdictional characteristics. The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation illustrates the challenges involved in policing a vast, rural reservation where tribal and federal authorities have jurisdiction. Oklahoma presents a very different situation, composed for the most part of parcels of tribal lands intersected by state land where tribal, state or federal authorities may have jurisdiction. In Alaska, federal authorities have transferred their jurisdiction to state authorities so that only tribal and state authorities have jurisdiction.

Amnesty International has focused its research on response to crimes of sexual violence on tribal lands and in neighbouring areas. The experiences of Indigenous women living far from tribal lands or in urban settings, therefore, are not reflected extensively in this report. According to the 2000 US Census, 56 per cent of Native American and Alaska Native people live outside Indian Country. Just under 10 per cent of Native Americans live in large urban centres. The available information points to high rates of sexual violence and a lack of culturally appropriate services in towns and cities. This is of sufficient concern to merit urgent further research.

Visit Maze of Injustice – The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA Download Page

First published in 2007 by Amnesty International USA
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www.amnestyusa.org

There are more than 550 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes in the USA. Federally recognized Indian tribes are sovereign under US law, having jurisdiction over their citizens and land, and maintain government to government relationships with each other and with the US federal government.

The US federal government has a legal responsibility to ensure protection of the rights and wellbeing of American Indian and Alaska Native peoples, including a responsibility to provide social, educational and medical services. This federal trust responsibility is set out in treaties between tribal nations and the federal government, further solidified in federal law, federal court decisions and policy. It includes the protection of the sovereignty of each tribal government.

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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements i
Preface ii
This study ii
A note on terminology iii
List of terms/abbreviations v
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Key recommendations 12
Chapter 2: Legacy of the past 15
Sexual violence as a tool of conquest 15
Chapter 3: International human rights law 19
Due diligence 19
Human rights of Indigenous peoples 20
Human rights of women 22
Multiple discriminations 24
Economic, social and cultural rights 25
Chapter 4: Issues of jurisdiction 27
Tribal authority 28
Standing Rock 30
Oklahoma 33
Alaska 34
Inter-agency co-operation 38
Chapter 5: Problems of policing 41
Delays and failure to respond 41
Inadequate and inappropriate policing 46
Training 49
Chapter 6: Forensic examinations 53
Law enforcement officials 54
Health service providers 55
Who should pay? 58
Chapter 7: Barriers to prosecution 61
Tribal courts 62
Federal level 64
State level 67
Discrimination in federal and state prosecutions 69
Lack of communication 71
Chapter 8: Support services for survivors 75
Access to health services 75
Indigenous support initiatives 77
Violence Against Women Act 82
Chapter 9: Recommendations 83
Endnotes 94

About Amnesty International

Founded in London in 1961, Amnesty International is a Nobel Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with over 1.8 million members worldwide.

Amnesty International undertakes research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights. Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is the U.S. Section of Amnesty International.

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