Thanks, in part, to some great investigative journalism over the last few years including podcasts and written reports, the mainstream is more and more aware of a huge problem facing Native Americans. The problem is that Indigenous women are being assaulted, kidnapped and killed at a
much higher rate than any other group. This is because non-natives are going onto reservations and commiting these crimes, knowing they are likely to get away with it.
That's why we need legislation that would give native people the right to prosecute violent criminals. Right now, it's hard to even know how much higher the rate is because no one is tracking the missing and murdered women in a comprehensive way. But the limited data we do have shows a clear trend: Indigenous women are vitcimized at much higher rates than other groups. Predators know this and they know if they kidnap Indigenous women, they are much less likely to get caught or prosecuted for this heinous violent crime.
Elizabeth Warren, along with Representative Deb Haaland, Democrat of New Mexico (one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress) have proposed legislation that would allow Native Americans to
prosectue people who commit crimes on their land. It's incredible that this wasn't already the case, but also not surprising.
Please sign on if you support legislation that would help crack down on the violent crimes committed against Indigenous women. 