Missing and Murdered: No One Knows How Many Native Women Have Disappeared - Rewire

16.4.16

Missing and Murdered: No One Knows How Many Native Women Have Disappeared - Rewire: Indeed, on some reservations, Native women are murdered at more than ten times the national average, according to U.S. Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, who presented that gruesome statistic while addressing the Committee on Indian Affairs on Violence Against Women in 2011.

Unlike Canada, where Indigenous leaders and advocates have pressured the government to begin to confirm the numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women, the United States has done little to address the issue.

Although the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Tribal Law and Order Act (TLOA) have helped bring attention to this high rate of violence and have begun to address gaps in law enforcement for tribes and federal authorities, there is no comprehensive data collection system regarding the number of missing and murdered women in Indian country.

Under VAWA 2005, a national study authorized by Congress found that between 1979 and 1992 homicide was the third leading cause of death among Native women ages 15 to 34, and that 75 percent were killed by family members or acquaintances.