WUNRN
Safe Women, Strong Nations
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Native women face the highest rates of
sexual violence and physical assault of any group in the
Through our Safe Women, Strong Nations project, the
Center is responding by lending our legal skills to help Native women's
organizations in their work to help tribes deal more effectively with this
issue. We are collaborating with Native women leaders who have been
dealing with this issue for years, and have been working closely with the
National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Women,
Clan Star, Inc., the Navajo Nation, and others to raise awareness of this issue
internationally.
DENIAL OF EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW
The current criminal jurisdictional scheme created by the United States
government impedes the ability of Indian nations to properly protect their
citizens, and the federal government has drastically cut funding to law
enforcement in Indian Country. This has resulted in the erosion of tribal
jurisdictional authority and the denial of equality under the law to Indian
nations and women.
Failure to effectively police and prosecute perpetrators
negatively impacts not only victims of sexual violence but entire Indian
nations as well. Violence against women disrupts the stability and
productivity of their families, their communities, and Indian nations. As
such, our project recognizes that protection for Native women must involve
strengthening the ability of Indian nations to effectively police their lands
and prosecute offenders.
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
With our help, a coalition of indigenous organizations brought these issues to
the attention of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination in December 2007. The collaborative report we submitted to
the Committee regarding the
The Committee responded to these issues
by condemning the
The Center and its partners brought further international
attention to the disparate impact of violence against Native women by meeting
with the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism about this issue
during his visit to the
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http://www.indianlaw.org/en/about
Indian Law Resource Center is a non-profit law and advocacy organization established and directed by American Indians. We provide legal assistance to Indian and Alaska Native nations who are working to protect their lands, resources, human rights, environment and cultural heritage. Our principal goal is the preservation and well-being of Indian and other Native nations and tribes.
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