TAKE ACTION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Urge Congress to Protect Native Women from Violence

Violence against Native women in the United States is a human rights scandal: 56.1% of all American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced sexual violence during their lifetime. They are more than 2.2 times more likely to be raped than non-Hispanic white women; it is estimated that on some reservations the rate of murder of Native women is more than 10 times the national average.

The steady erosion of tribal authority and jurisdiction by the US government contributes to this epidemic of violence, including:

A lack of interagency cooperation between federal, state, and tribal authorities when responding to and investigating cases of violence against Native women
A lack of availability of rape kits (evidence collection) for survivors, which often means perpetrators are never tried
A lack of adequate funding for tribes to address violence against Native women

Congress has a chance to help address this crisis by passing the Bridging Agency Data Gaps and Ensuring Safety (BADGES), and the Parity for Tribal Law Enforcement Act. These two bills combined would:

Improve interagency coordination to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and sexual violence crisis
Increase transparency on the barriers that prevent evidence collection
Help tribal, state, and federal authorities better coordinate to prevent and respond to MMIWG and sexual violence cases
Ensure tribal police receive equal resources and treatment to better protect and serve their communities, especially the survivors of violence.

We need your help. Please lend your voice alongside ours. Tell Congress to pass the BADGES and Parity Act, so tribes can get the resources they need to protect Native women.

Learn more: www.amnestyusa.org/maze

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I am writing as your constituent to ask you to take action to stop violence against Indigenous women and to support the Bridging Agency Data Gaps and Ensuring Safety (BADGES) for Native Communities Act H.R.1010/S.390, and the Parity for Tribal Law Enforcement Act H.R 4712/S. 2452.

56.1% of all American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. On some reservations, the rate of murder of Indigenous women is more than 10 times the national average. In 2016, civil society organizations estimated 5,712 reports of missing AI/AN women and girls, but the Department of Justice only logged 116 in their database. The missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) and sexual violence epidemic in the United States must be addressed immediately.

You can help stop the violence by supporting the passage of the BADGES and Parity Act. These two pieces of legislation would:

- Appoint a tribal facilitator for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System who will provide assistance and training to tribes on MMIWG

- Require the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on barriers to evidence collection that exists within relevant US government agencies

- Establish a grant program to support states, Tribes, and Tribal organizations in the coordination efforts related to missing and murdered persons cases and sexual assault cases

- Improve the hiring, retention, and training of tribal law enforcement officers

- Ensure tribal police receive equal treatment and resources to strengthen responses on crimes committed against Indigenous women

The passage of these bills would improve interagency coordination, provide transparency on the barriers to data collection, and ensure that tribal nations have jurisdiction and resources to keep their communities safe.

Please act now to stop this epidemic of violence against Indigenous women and support the BADGES for Native Communities Act and the Parity for Tribal Law Enforcement Act.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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