In The News
Sexual assault counselors push to protect confidentiality with victims
Advocates say disclosure of information could have a chilling effect on the willingness to report. Victims' advocates say Minnesota judges inconsistently apply a state law protecting communications between sexual assault counselors and people who come to them for help. Now, those groups have taken their case all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court, appealing a ruling in which a district court allowed review of a woman's communications with a [...]
What Will It Take to End Violence Against Native Women?
The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act is an important step, but activist Mary Kathryn Nagle argues that only full restoration of Indigenous sovereignty will stop the epidemic. Mary Kathryn Nagle, a member of the Cherokee Nation, is one of the country’s most prominent lawyers, often appearing in court to advocate for the rights of Indigenous people. She is also a well-known playwright, and her stage work explores many [...]
Funding Opportunity: FY 2022 Tribal Governments Program Solicitation Now Available
OVW's Grants to Indian Tribal Governments Program assists tribal governments and authorized designees of tribal governments to respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking in their communities. In FY 22, the OVW is particularly interested in proposals to improve outreach, services, civil and criminal justice responses, prevention, and support for survivors of sexualassault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking from underserved communities, particularly Two-Spirit/LGBTQ victims. [...]
VAWA Reauthorization Headed to President’s Desk
Indian Country Today: Tribal nations are celebrating the reauthorized Violence Against Women Act. Congress passed the omnibus spending package for the 2022 fiscal year late Thursday, which included major tribal provisions. It passed in the Senate with a 68-31 vote. The bill will now head to the president’s desk to be signed. This means that tribal nations “will continue to increase safety and justice for victims who had previously seen [...]
Now Available: FY 2022 Transitional Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking
OVW’s Transitional Housing Program supports programs that provide 6-24 months of transitional housing with support services for victims who are homeless or in need of transitional housing or other housing assistance, as a result of a situation of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking; and for whom emergency shelter services or other crisis intervention services are unavailable or insufficient. Eligible Applicants are limited to States, units of local [...]
Blog
Where are the Indigenous children who never came home?
When Yufna Soldier Wolf was a kid, she was made well aware of why her family members only spoke English, and why they dressed the way they did. Her grandfather and other elders used to recount their experiences at boarding schools, where the government sent hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children, from nearly every Indigenous nation within U.S. borders, to unlearn their languages and cultures. “A lot of them were [...]
Washington State creates an alert system for missing Indigenous people
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday signed into law a bill that creates a first-in-the-nation statewide alert system for missing Indigenous people. The law creates a system similar to Amber Alerts and so-called silver alerts, which are used respectively for missing children and vulnerable adults in many states. The system will notify law enforcement when there's a report of a missing Indigenous person. It will also place messages on highway [...]
Tribe grapples with missing women crisis on California coast
By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press February 21, 2022 YUROK RESERVATION, Calif. — The young mother had behaved erratically for months, hitchhiking and wandering naked through two Native American reservations and a small town clustered along Northern California's rugged Lost Coast. But things escalated when Emmilee Risling was charged with arson for igniting a fire in a cemetery. Her family hoped the case would force her into mental health and addiction [...]
Systems Advocacy: Creating Safe, Respectful & Effective Responses Part 3
“I was so tired I could hardly think. Petrified about going to court. The prosecutor was an angel. Kind, patient. He actually said he was sorry I got beaten up, I didn’t deserve it – no matter what. Then he said he would do the prosecution without me if I wanted. The cops did a great job investigating, documenting, and the doctor did a detailed report, so it was [...]
Systems Advocacy: Creating Safe, Respectful & Effective Responses Part 2
“It was about six months after my children and I finally got a house in tribal housing. I was struggling to get to work, take care of the kids and keep the car working. I needed my ex to watch the children a couple days a week so I could work. I trusted him to take good care of them for that amount of time. One day I drove [...]