Message from Amnesty International: End sexual violence against Native American women
This afternoon I got the following alert from Amnesty International. Please take a moment to look over the facts below and call your Senator. If you can’t do it today, then make a call tomorrow or Friday. Senators need to hear from as many people as possible on this important issue.
FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL:
Call your Senators today to support the Tribal Law and Order Act.The numbers are shocking.
In our report, Maze of Injustice, we uncovered the staggering statistic that Native American and Native women are more than two and a half times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in the USA in general.
Thankfully, our insiders on Capitol Hill say the Senate is considering re-introducing the Tribal Law and Order Act, a bill that would help fix this broken system of justice.
That’s why we’ve made this week the national call-in week for women’s rights. Call your Senators today and ask them to support the Tribal Law and Order Act.
Our call-in page will give you phone numbers, detailed talking points and a sample script. If passed, the Tribal Law and Order Act would do two critical things:
- Clarify jurisdiction between federal, state, tribal and local governments, and
- Increase coordination between their law enforcement agencies for responding to violent crime against American Indians.
Non-Native men who rape Native American and Alaska Native women can often do so with impunity, because of a lack of tribal authority to prosecute non-Native people who commit crimes of sexual violence on tribal lands. Most perpetrators are never punished because of a complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions that is so confusing that officials are often not clear on who is responsible for responding. This maze of injustice is exactly what the Tribal Law and Order Act would help fix.
We promise it will take you less than two minutes. Our call-in page has everything you need, including phone numbers, talking points and even a sample script.Without your phone call the Tribal Law and Order Act may never see the light of day. Thank you for joining the hundreds of others who will call this week to support women’s rights.
Sincerely,
Meredith Larson
Director, Stop Violence Against Women Campaign
Amnesty International, USA