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 crisis: 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 — and it is estimated that on some reservations the rate of murder of Native women is more than 10 times the national average.

In addition to the steady erosion of tribal authority by the US government, there are multiple factors that contribute to this crisis of violence, including:

A lack of interagency cooperation between federal, state, a 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 now has a chance to help address this crisis by passing the Bridging Agency Data Gaps and Ensuring Safety (BADGES) for Native Communities Act. This act 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 tribes and state and federal authorities better coordinate to prevent and respond to MMIWG and sexual violence cases

Tell Congress to pass the BADGES for Native Communities Act so the US government can be held accountable, and tribes can get the resources they need to protect Native women. We need your voice with us!

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.

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 vioelnce crisis in the United States must be addressed immediately.  
You can help address this crisis by supporting the passage of the BADGES for Native Communities Act. This act 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 exist 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

The passage of this bill would improve interagency coordination, provide transparency on the barriers to data collection, and provide funding options to eligible tribes that would allow them to effectively address the issues of MMIWG and sexual violence against Indigenous women.

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

Sincerely,

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

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