One in three face rape

21 June 2007, 11:38AM

Agnieszka Niemira reports on the epidemic of sexual violence facing Indigenous women in the US.

More than one in three Indigenous women in the US is raped during her lifetime and most of the crimes go unpunished. The majority of women do not report the rape and, when they do, the laws are so complex that they seem to protect the rapists more than the victims.

Sexual violence is so endemic that many Indigenous women say they don't know any woman within their community who has not suffered sexual violence, according to an Amnesty International report Maze of injustice - The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA.

Most do not seek justice because they know they will be met with inaction or indifference. "Women don't report because...why report when you are just going to be re-victimised?" says Pauline Musgrove, Director of the Spirits of Hope Coalition.

Violence against women is one of the most pervasive human rights abuses, yet it is also one of the most hidden. It takes place in intimate relationships, within the family and at the hands of strangers.

Indigenous women face multiple discriminations. As a 2006 report on violence against Indigenous women by the International Indigenous Women's Forum said, they are discriminated against not only as women, but as Indigenous peoples. "The latter does not merely add one more element to the burden of discrimination that Indigenous women face, but interacts with and changes the nature of the discrimination."

Effects of colonisation

Studies of traditional Native American and Alaska Native cultures have found that prior to colonisation women often held esteemed positions in society. Violence against women was rare and, when it occurred, was severely punished. Colonisation and its aftermath profoundly changed gender roles among Indigenous peoples. Indigenous women were raped by settlers and soldiers in attacks that were not random or individual, but were the tools of conquest.

Settlers and government officials insisted on dealing only with men, while Christian missionaries exerted pressure on Indigenous peoples to assume what their churches considered proper gender roles.

Historically, the US Federal Government has tried to compel Native American and Alaska Native peoples to assimilate into non-Indigenous society. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of policies designed to enforce assimilation contributed to the breaking up of tribal societies, damaging communal solidarity and traditional social networks. One such policy, which started in 1869, involved removing children as young as five from their families and communities and making them attend boarding schools where cruel and inhuman treatment was the norm and many children experienced physical and sexual violence; hundreds were killed.

Between 1972 and 1976, thousands of Indigenous women were sterilised, when there was no medical necessity and without their consent.

Today, according to the US Department of Justice, in at least 86 per cent of reported cases of rape or sexual assault against Indigenous women, the perpetrators are non-Native men.

"Non-Native perpetrators often seek out a reservation because they know they can inflict violence there without much happening to them," says Andrea Smith, Assistant Professor of Native Studies at the University of Michigan.

Tribal prosecutors are not allowed to prosecute crimes committed by non-Native perpetrators. The maximum prison sentence tribal courts can impose for crimes, including rape, is one year. At the same time, the majority of rape cases on tribal lands that are referred to the federal courts are never brought to trial.

Failure to prosecute

"To a sexual predator, the failure to prosecute sex crimes against American Indian women is an invitation to prey with impunity," says Dr David Lisak, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts.

The few Indigenous women who decide to report sexual violence are caught in a jurisdictional maze that tribal, state and federal police often cannot quickly sort out.

Three justice systems, tribal, state and federal, are potentially involved and there can be significant delays as they argue over who has jurisdiction over a crime. It depends on whether the victim or the accused are members of a federally recognised tribe, and whether the rape took place on tribal land. It may take weeks or months to decide whether a property in a rural area is Indian land or not and investigators often have to go through court and title records to find out, says an Assistant Attorney General who asked not to be identified.

Support workers told Amnesty International about the rapes of two Native American women in 2005 in Oklahoma. In both cases the women were raped by three non-Native men. There were other similarities between the crimes: the perpetrators all wore condoms, blindfolded the victims and made them take a bath. Because the women were blindfolded, support workers were concerned that the women would be unable to say whether the rapes took place on federal, state or tribal land. They feared that, because of the jurisdictional complexities in Oklahoma, uncertainty about exactly where these crimes took place might affect the ability of the women to obtain justice.

The result of the three different justice systems can be such confusion that no-one intervenes and perpetrators go unpunished. Women are not only denied access to justice, but are left unprotected and at risk of further attacks by the same offenders.

At all levels, law enforcement and justice systems are failing even to inform survivors about the progress of their cases and there is little accountability for failure to investigate or prosecute. For survivors, this means months or even years of fear and anguish.

Statistics show that US federal and state governments provide significantly fewer resources for policing in Indian Country and Alaska Native villages than are provided to comparable non-Native communities.

Many officials lack appropriate training and their reactions to the survivors of rape are often improper. A 'she brought it on herself' attitude is dangerously prevailing.

"Police still blame women. They say: 'Why was she there? Why was she drinking?'" says a support worker.

Of particular concern is discrimination against rape survivors who are suspected of drinking alcohol before they were attacked. This is worrying because of negative stereotypes that link Indigenous women with drinking. One Alaska Native survivor of rape told Amnesty International that if a woman is suspected of drinking and reports that she has been the victim of sexual violence, "the police will not respond unless she is either hospitalised or dead".

Juries have shown more tolerance towards offenders who had been drinking than towards victims who used alcohol.

Survivors of sexual violence are not guaranteed access to adequate, timely and free-of-charge forensic examinations, due in part to the federal government's severe under-funding of the Indian Health Service. Amnesty International's research suggests that services for survivors of sexual violence, such as testing and prophylaxis for sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), pregnancy testing, emergency contraception and culturally appropriate support services, are inadequate.

"It is essential that health service facilities have the staff, resources and expertise to ensure the accurate, sensitive, confidential (and free of charge) collection of evidence in cases of sexual violence and for the secure storage of this evidence until it is handed over to law enforcement officials," says the report. Health professionals must also provide survivors of sexual violence with any additional medical attention required.

A violation of rights

In failing to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence, the US is violating women's human rights. Indigenous women's organisations and tribal authorities have made concrete proposals to stop sexual violence against Indigenous women, but the US Government has failed to act. Amnesty International recommends that the federal and state governments consult and cooperate with Indigenous nations and Indigenous women.

Addressing sexual violence against Indigenous women in the US requires an integrated approach that challenges discrimination on the grounds of gender and Indigenous identity in society at large, and particularly in the institutions charged with upholding and delivering justice.

The report also recommends that federal and state authorities ensure Indigenous people, especially women, are represented in agencies responsible for administering justice in Indigenous communities.

It calls for better cooperation between law enforcement agencies and recommends that the US Congress recognise the coexisting jurisdiction of tribal authorities over all crimes committed on tribal land, regardless of whether the accused person is Indigenous or not. Congress should amend the Indian Civil Rights Act to recognise the authority of tribal courts to impose penalties proportionate to the offences.

Other recommendations include ensuring accountability and ending impunity for abusers, as well as increasing federal funding.

Native American and Alaska Native women in the US have long been calling on the federal government to take action to address violence against Indigenous women. In 2005 these efforts resulted in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), including a specific Tribal Title that seeks to improve safety and justice for Native American and Alaska Native women.

This article was first published in the February/March 2007 issue of the Human Rights Defender, AIA's bi-monthly publication.

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