AK Native women excluded from some VAWA provisions

The Violence Against Women's Act was renewed on March 7. It gives me hope for our new Congress. Thanks to everyone who called their congressmen in support of getting this important legislation passed.

In a bizarre turn of events, though, Alaska Native women were specifically excluded from some of the protections of the new version of VAWA through a "Special Rule for Alaska." Historically, if a man beats his Native wife, tribal governments have the right to issue a protective order on her behalf, but only if the perpetrator is Native. The newest version of VAWA extends the right to the tribe to hold non-Native perpetrators accountable for domestic violence or sexual assault against Native women. But Alaska's Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) fought for and won an exclusion from this power for AK Native tribes.

Alaska has the highest per capita rate of homicide of women by male perpetrators in the US. Three out of four Alaska Native women will be physically assaulted, and one in three sexually assaulted in their lifetimes. Many villages in rural Alaska do not even have the benefit of having state troopers posted locally; a call to law enforcement requires a trooper to fly into the village on the next flight. In such isolated situations, it is necessary for local tribal governments to have the authority to detain violent people to protect victims. I don't understand how we can justify preventing tribes from protecting women from non-Native perpetrators of violent crimes while the state continues to under-commit resources to enforce the law in rural areas. Alaska Native tribes are nominally "sovereign." Yet we tie their hands legally when non-Native people assault Native women; meanwhile the state of Alaska is not able to adequately protect those women.

I would encourage you to contact your senator and let them know if you also are concerned that such a dangerous exclusion was made into law. For more information, you can read here, from the Native American Rights Fund.