Post by Okwes on Jul 24, 2007 10:01:40 GMT -5
Justice Department: Indian women raped at rate 2.5 times higher than
U.S. average By Jodi Rave, Lee Enterprises
www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/03/11/news/top/news05.txt
<http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/03/11/news/top/news05.txt\
>
Norma Rendon has seen too many women blame themselves for being raped.
But women need to learn to report the crime to police, she said, and
understand that rape is not their fault.
"Too often, they are not being reported," said Rendon, a
women's advocate at Cangleska, a shelter on Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation. "There is so much shame that comes with being a
victim."
Only one in five adult women report being raped to the police.
Although more than 17 million women have been raped in their life,
according to a U.S. Department of Justice report for 2006, American
Indian women reported the highest number of rapes of any racial or
ethnic group in the United States -- a rate 2.5 times higher than the
national average.
The FBI reports that women in Alaska, New Mexico, South Dakota,
Washington, Minnesota and Colorado are among the most-raped in the
country. Each state has a significant population of Native women.
Amnesty International, a worldwide human-rights organization, has spent
two years researching sexual assaults in urban and reservation areas.
Amnesty officials have scheduled an April 24 news conference at the
National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The next day, organization
leaders will release a report titled, "USA: Maze of Injustice -- The
Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence."
A reprieve from the violence seems distant. The 2005 Violence Against
Women Act authorized Congress to spend $50 million annually on sexual
assault services, which have never been funded.
Meanwhile, women's advocates agree assault rates continue to climb.
Already, one in three Native women will be raped in their lifetime,
according to a 1999 report from the Bureau of Justice.
Tess Curley on Montana's Flathead Reservation is especially
concerned at rising numbers of sexual assaults and at the age of
victims. Thirty-three percent of women are raped between the ages of 12
and 17.
"It's increasing more, especially on our reservation," said
Curley, who works for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes'
crime victim advocate program. "And they are beginning to target our
youth. The positive thing is they (girls) are coming in and reporting
this more and saying, `This happened to me.' "
Sexual assault penalties vary state to state. In Montana, a woman who
has been raped has 10 years to report it. If a girl or teenager is
raped, she has 10 years starting from her 18th birthday.
The Cangleska shelter hired its first, full-time worker in February to
work specifically with sexual assault victims on Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation, where women have had to drive 120 miles for aid in Rapid
City, now ranked fourth in the nation for rapes per capita.
The shelter has since acquired rape kits to collect samples from victims
and to fill out reports.
"In many of the cases, they were raped in our border towns,"
said Rendon, referring to cities near the reservation. The U.S. Justice
Bureau reports that the majority of violent crimes against Indian women
are committed by white men.
Not only is it important to report sexual assaults, women should seek a
support group, Rendon said. Mothers are also encouraged to consider how
physical and sexual assaults against them affects their children.
A National Institute of Justice report shows 64 percent of children had
witnessed abuse against their mothers by age 3. Youths ages 12-18 of
sexually abused mothers showed more depression and had more behavioral
problems than children of mothers who had not been sexually assaulted.
Rebecca St. George, a women's advocate with Mending the Sacred Hoop
in Duluth, Minn., is working with local police on documenting sexual
assaults. Although she reaches out to assist women, she also counts
herself among the victims.
"I was raped a couple of times," St. George said. "The first
time, I was at a party. I had never had sex before. I went with a guy to
his car to get some beer. It was cold in northern Minnesota. He invited
me to the front seat of his car and he raped me. I was shocked and
confused and didn't even identify it as rape until three years
later."
The Ojibwe woman said she was raped a second time after drinking too
much alcohol and passing out. Rape occurs when sexual intercourse occurs
without consent. "It never occurred to me to report any of those to
anyone."
St. George didn't go to the police, but she said simply reporting it
can be therapeutic. "For some women, it's incredibly healing
just to get the guy charged, whether there's a prosecution or
not," she said. "It's powerful to make a public statement
that, `What he did to me is wrong.'"
"By my silence, I certainly allowed them to continue," she said.
"It's not a guilt thing, but it's true. I didn't do
anything to stop them from raping the next person."
U.S. average By Jodi Rave, Lee Enterprises
www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/03/11/news/top/news05.txt
<http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/03/11/news/top/news05.txt\
>
Norma Rendon has seen too many women blame themselves for being raped.
But women need to learn to report the crime to police, she said, and
understand that rape is not their fault.
"Too often, they are not being reported," said Rendon, a
women's advocate at Cangleska, a shelter on Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation. "There is so much shame that comes with being a
victim."
Only one in five adult women report being raped to the police.
Although more than 17 million women have been raped in their life,
according to a U.S. Department of Justice report for 2006, American
Indian women reported the highest number of rapes of any racial or
ethnic group in the United States -- a rate 2.5 times higher than the
national average.
The FBI reports that women in Alaska, New Mexico, South Dakota,
Washington, Minnesota and Colorado are among the most-raped in the
country. Each state has a significant population of Native women.
Amnesty International, a worldwide human-rights organization, has spent
two years researching sexual assaults in urban and reservation areas.
Amnesty officials have scheduled an April 24 news conference at the
National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The next day, organization
leaders will release a report titled, "USA: Maze of Injustice -- The
Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence."
A reprieve from the violence seems distant. The 2005 Violence Against
Women Act authorized Congress to spend $50 million annually on sexual
assault services, which have never been funded.
Meanwhile, women's advocates agree assault rates continue to climb.
Already, one in three Native women will be raped in their lifetime,
according to a 1999 report from the Bureau of Justice.
Tess Curley on Montana's Flathead Reservation is especially
concerned at rising numbers of sexual assaults and at the age of
victims. Thirty-three percent of women are raped between the ages of 12
and 17.
"It's increasing more, especially on our reservation," said
Curley, who works for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes'
crime victim advocate program. "And they are beginning to target our
youth. The positive thing is they (girls) are coming in and reporting
this more and saying, `This happened to me.' "
Sexual assault penalties vary state to state. In Montana, a woman who
has been raped has 10 years to report it. If a girl or teenager is
raped, she has 10 years starting from her 18th birthday.
The Cangleska shelter hired its first, full-time worker in February to
work specifically with sexual assault victims on Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation, where women have had to drive 120 miles for aid in Rapid
City, now ranked fourth in the nation for rapes per capita.
The shelter has since acquired rape kits to collect samples from victims
and to fill out reports.
"In many of the cases, they were raped in our border towns,"
said Rendon, referring to cities near the reservation. The U.S. Justice
Bureau reports that the majority of violent crimes against Indian women
are committed by white men.
Not only is it important to report sexual assaults, women should seek a
support group, Rendon said. Mothers are also encouraged to consider how
physical and sexual assaults against them affects their children.
A National Institute of Justice report shows 64 percent of children had
witnessed abuse against their mothers by age 3. Youths ages 12-18 of
sexually abused mothers showed more depression and had more behavioral
problems than children of mothers who had not been sexually assaulted.
Rebecca St. George, a women's advocate with Mending the Sacred Hoop
in Duluth, Minn., is working with local police on documenting sexual
assaults. Although she reaches out to assist women, she also counts
herself among the victims.
"I was raped a couple of times," St. George said. "The first
time, I was at a party. I had never had sex before. I went with a guy to
his car to get some beer. It was cold in northern Minnesota. He invited
me to the front seat of his car and he raped me. I was shocked and
confused and didn't even identify it as rape until three years
later."
The Ojibwe woman said she was raped a second time after drinking too
much alcohol and passing out. Rape occurs when sexual intercourse occurs
without consent. "It never occurred to me to report any of those to
anyone."
St. George didn't go to the police, but she said simply reporting it
can be therapeutic. "For some women, it's incredibly healing
just to get the guy charged, whether there's a prosecution or
not," she said. "It's powerful to make a public statement
that, `What he did to me is wrong.'"
"By my silence, I certainly allowed them to continue," she said.
"It's not a guilt thing, but it's true. I didn't do
anything to stop them from raping the next person."