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Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in the United States
(Working draft of White Paper – Society of Indian Psychologists)
Ross, R. J., GreyWolf, I., Tehee, M., Henry, S., & Cheromiah, M. (2018)
In the past three decades, over 1000 Indigenous women and girls in Canada were murdered or
disappeared without a trace (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2014; Mt. Pleasant, 2016). In 2004,
Amnesty International released the first comprehensive report on violence against Indigenous women
called No More Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Discrimination and Violence Against
Indigenous Women in Canada. In 2016, the Government of Canada initiated a National Inquiry into
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls; however, across the socially-constructed Canadian
and United States (U.S.) border, NO comparable accountability system exists to accurately document the
missing or lost lives of Indigenous Women and Girls.
The limited availability of U.S. statistics on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls reflects
their experiences with violence are not being fully recognized, understood, legitimized, or
communicated to policymakers. This violence has affected and profoundly unsettles entire Indigenous
communities, including the often-forgotten men (Innes, 2015; Dylan et al., 2008), transgendered, and
Two-Spirited peoples.
Understanding the historical context of violence in Indigenous communities is vital to understanding our
current situation. Violence is a legacy lived within many Indigenous families resulting from generations
of physical, sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse since colonization began. Sexual violence against
women typically plays a pivotal role in the process of colonization and is well documented, including
within North America (Brownbridge, 2008; Chenault, 2011).
Before the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994, non-American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN)
assailants could commit acts of violence against Indigenous women and tribes could not enact criminal
charges, attributed to a 1978 Supreme Court case, Oliphant vs. Suquamish. The U.S. government
reauthorized VAWA in 2013, allowing for tribes to prosecute non-AI/AN offenders in physical assault and
special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction cases; however, there are many specifications imposing
limitations. Thus, far only a very small percentage of tribes have been able to enact the expansion
(National Congress of the American Indian, 2015). The government must do more to expand VAWA to
include sexual assault and sex-trafficking by non-AI/AN offenders. VAWA needs to be comprehensive in
the prosecution of other offenses, including attendant crimes and crimes involving children. Many brutal
crimes are committed in the presence of, and against, children in Indian Country. Thomas Paul Shomin,
former Tribal Councilor for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, stated,
“Perpetrators know the difference between living on tribal land and not living on tribal land. They know
the law and intentionally take advantage of the loopholes” (US Department of Justice, 2016b, p. 28).
Jurisdictional issues and venue uncertainty provide these non-AI/AN offenders a safe haven to continue
their pattern of behavior.
According to Senator Mark Daines (2017), “American Indian women face murder rates that are more
than ten times the national average murder rate.” Homicide is the third leading cause of death among
American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) women and girls between the ages of 10 and 24 (Daines,
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2017). In a 2016 Department of Justice report, Rosay (2016) indicated in the lifetime of AI/AN women,
56.1% have experienced sexual violence, 84% physical violence, and 53.6% severe physical violence. Of
those Indigenous women, 66% had experienced psychological violence and 49% had experienced
stalking (Rosay, 2016). Of the women reporting experiencing violence in their lifetime, 97% reported at
least one incident of violence perpetrated by a non-AI/AN and 96% reported at least one incident of
sexual violence perpetrated by a non-AI/AN (Rosay, 2016).
“Indigenous men were also targets of this very same historical colonial violence… Yet, research has
shown that Indigenous males have largely been studied from the perspective of the perpetrators of
violence and never as victims” in Canada (Mt. Pleasant, 2016). Indigenous men are seven times more
likely than non-Indigenous males to be victims of homicide in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2015). Some
statistics from the US about AI/AN men indicate that 27.5% have experienced sexual violence and 82%
physical violence (Rosay, 2016). Of the AI/AN men reporting experiencing violence in their lifetime, 89%
reported at least one incident of sexual violence perpetrated by a non-AI/AN (Rosay, 2016). This
violence warrants investigation from within a framework of colonial violence.
Unfortunately, existing data on Indigenous victims of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse under-
represent actual rates of occurrence. This under-representation may be attributed in part to inefficient
data collection systems, operationalized definitions of abuse, and the entities responsible for entering
data including law enforcement, judicial systems, and domestic relations organizations (Amnesty
International, 2007). Many Indigenous women strongly believe authorities will not do anything if they
report their victimization to law enforcement (U.S. Department of Justice, 2016b). These accounts of
sexual assaults by Indigenous victims are often initially disclosed in psychotherapeutic settings. Further,
incidents go unreported for many reasons including mistrust of law enforcement officials, mistreatment
by judicial and law enforcement entities, and revictimization through the legal system process. Between
2004 and 2007, the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to federally prosecute 62% of Indian Country criminal
cases, including 72% of child sexual crimes, and 75% of adult rape cases (U.S. Department of Justice,
2016a).
The aforementioned challenges also apply to victims of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, with
underlying vulnerability and coercion as factors. Vulnerable individuals, taking into account age,
socioeconomic status, individuals exposed to high rates of violence, and chemical dependency, are more
likely to become targets of sex trafficking (NCAI Policy Research Center, 2016). Numerous reports
conclude social injustices such as poverty, limited access to education and work, violence against
females, and marginalization of people of color, are at the root of human trafficking. Three specific
examples of these factors to support the need for action to track Missing and Murdered Indigenous
Women and Girls in the U.S. are: 1) approximately 1:4 AI/AN were living in poverty in 2016 (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2017); 2) a disproportionate number of Indigenous women are represented in the commercial
sex trade in hub cities in Alaska and Minnesota where many Indigenous people seek employment (NCAI
Policy Research Center, 2016); and 3) of those who identify as AI/AN as their only race, 33% lived on
reservations or tribal lands (Pew Research Center, 2014). Many of the U.S. AI/AN lands are located in
rural or remote areas. When transitioning from rural to city seeking employment, many Indigenous
females are easy targets and easily lost.
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Although several tribes have adopted statutes into their tribal codes that address sex trafficking and
sexual exploitation of minors, more must be done at the federal level. The loopholes that allow non-
AI/AN perpetrators to escape prosecution need to be closed. Federal sentencing must be amended to
include appropriate sentencing fines and penalties for the violent crimes committed against Indigenous
Women and Girls. Protection orders for victims must be afforded full faith and credit amongst various
jurisdictional venues as this is a dangerous time for many women to leave their partners, sometimes
ending in fatalistic outcomes.
Criminal cases are recorded in different databases nationally. For example, the Legal Information Office
Network System (LIONS) is used by the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a case management system. Different
systems are used to track allegations reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which does not
fully incorporate those reported to the Bureau of Indian Affairs or tribal law enforcement, nor to states,
including PL280 states (US DOJ, 2016, Indian Country). Currently, there is not a comprehensive U.S.
database that accurately collects comprehensive data on missing Indigenous females, or sexual
exploitation including human sex trafficking, of this population.
Our recommendation is for the United States to build upon the experiences of the multiple works in
Canada on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. We do not want to replicate mistakes.
We primarily want a comprehensive database to assess and address Missing and Murdered Indigenous
Women and Girls in the United States. We want race specified, eliminating the “other” category where
Indigenous peoples are often classified. We want all genders included and not limited to binary
categorizations. Jurisdictional specification where the crime was committed should also be included in
the data. In support of securing implementation of an accurate database, we want a training protocol
developed and instituted and an alert system to increase the current response in such cases. We want
law enforcement protocol reviewed, revised, investigative standards elevated, and the same
investigative procedures already granted to mainstream America. We need to have mandatory
reporting by all law enforcement agencies involved. According to Senator Tom Udall, “Native women
should not be abandoned to a jurisdictional loophole,” thus closure of these gaps is necessary. We do
not want Indigenous victims discounted or treated as insignificant because of lifestyle; they are not
“disposable people.” We want our Indigenous Women and Girls to be recognized as daughters,
mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunties, and nieces and the crimes against them documented and
addressed.
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References
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Against Indigenous Women in Canada (AI Index: AMR 20/003/2004). Retrieved from
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Amnesty International. (2007). Maze of Injustice: The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual
Violence in the USA (AI Index: AMR 51/035/2007). Retrieved from
https://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/mazeofinjustice.pdf
Brownridge, D. A. (2008). Understanding the elevated risk of partner violence against aboriginal women: A
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Chenault, V.S. (2011). Weaving strength, weaving power: Violence and abuse against Indigenous women.
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