Native American women encounter a disproportionate level of sexual violence from verbal abuse to physical harm, including but not limited to domestic and sexual assaults. Such violations not only result in lasting detrimental effects on the individuals subjected to them but also reverberate throughout their entire community, exacerbating social challenges. For example, exposing the removal of their relationships to the land, air, and water that are integral to the ways in which their societies as a whole function. This violence is often seen as being rooted in settler colonialism.

One proposal emphasizes the reinstatement of tribal authority in the prosecution of crimes committed within Indigenous territories, a strategy intended to foster accountability and justice within the community. Advocates are lobbying for legislative amendments to ensure that non-Indigenous men are held responsible under local or national laws.

History

Settler colonialism According to Potawatomi philosopher Kyle Powys Whyte, settler colonialism in the Americas provides the historical basis for how violence against Native Women has been perpetuated throughout centuries. Colonizers dehumanized the Native Americans present on the land to justify the exploitation being conducted. This dehumanization is what founded the basis of the colonial systems still present today that are harmful for many Native peoples in the Americas.

According to historian Rayna Green, from the outset of colonization, Native women were viewed as sexual objects that were to be desired. At the same time, Native women could also be seen as women who welcomed settlers and handed Native land over. Green explains that this presents a “Pocahontas Perplex”, where Native women must either act proper according to colonial values, accept colonization and disappear, or give into their base, “savage” nature and act only as sexual objects.

Native Hawaiian women were sexualized in the eyes of European colonizers in similar ways. Native women were idealized and sexualized as exotic and playful. For example, the  “hula girl” is always barely clothed, wrapped in leaves, and in an idealized physical shape. These visualizations bring about higher rates of sexualization, assault, and trafficking.

Alaska Natives were also viewed under similar sexualization and they now see the highest rates of sexual assault in the country. Alaska Native peoples were forcibly removed from their homelands in the mid 1900s and are still facing colonialism as they fight for land claims with the US federal and state government.

The exoticness placed on the image of the Native Woman through these imagined stereotypes aided in the justification of abuses inflicted by the Europeans in early settler colonialism. The enslavement and exploitation of the native body reflected their low placement on an imagined hierarchy.

In the 1800’s, boarding schools were created around the United States for Native children to be sent to learn how to be “a good American citizen”. The lack of regulation at these schools allowed for overseers to abuse, molest, and rape children, both male and female. Sexual abuse was conducted under penalties such as torture or death if children refused. This system continued a cycle of assault that these schools allowed to persist.

Resource extraction and environmental injustice Native reservations are often targeted for mining projects due to the abundance of resources like oil and gas that are present in those areas. This invasion has led to many battles with the US government to maintain the sovereignty of these nations as pipeline projects encroach on their lands. With an estimated 20% of oil and gas repositories lying beneath reservations, these areas are at increasing risk for environmental damage and pollution due to mining and fracking projects on or next to reservations.

For Native American women, these pipelines brought pollution to their and high risks of sexual assault and rape. Oil and gas companies depend on “man camps” that allow anyone to come work on the pipeline projects with limited background checks. Native lands located close to man camps have much higher rates of abuse, sexual assault, and rape. For example, according to studies done by the Tallgrass institute, trafficking, murder and rape increase by at least 23% during times of oil booms and that 96% of these violences are committed by non-native individuals.

Throughout the late 20th century till now, Alaska Natives have had to battle oil and gas companies for the rights to their land due to the large number of fossil fuel repositories in Alaska. The large amounts of man camps coupled with the vastly unregulated “Alaskan wilderness” amount to a higher rates of violent assaults on Native Alaskan women than any other Native group in the US.

Native efforts to resist sexual violence Many indigenous women and activists created groups and organizations to combat these issues. Tribal members have been calling for control of rape kits, traditional ways of medicine for the health-related issues caused by sexual assault, and counseling services that are integrated in the spiritual and medicinal way of life that is ingrained in their societies. They believe that this is one way that tribes can take this issue back into their hands if the US government will not bring assault cases to Federal courts or establish Tribal rights to prosecute non-Tribal citizens.

Muscogee Creek law scholar Sarah Deer discusses many ways in which tribal governments work with their communities for aid due to a lack of help from the United States. She calls for activism, reform, and justice for the victims of sexual violence.

Institutional reports and statistics

Amnesty International's "Maze of Injustice" Report Amnesty International, in its report "Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA", presented survivors' voices of sexual violence. This research, conducted in 2005 and 2006 across the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, Oklahoma, and Alaska, involved interviews with victims, tribal, state, and federal law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and tribal judges. The report highlighted the widespread fear among Indigenous women that their assaults would go unaddressed, leading to low reporting rates.

Pursuing justice for these women often means navigating a maze of tribal, state, and federal law, where jurisdictional queries delay or even prevent cases from being heard. The report identifies several factors contributing to these injustices, including lack of training and inadequate response by police officers, underfunding of justice systems, federal restrictions on tribal courts' authority, and systemic discrimination. The 1978 Oliphant v. Suquamish case, which prohibits tribal courts from prosecuting non-Native suspects, further complicates the matter.

National Institute of Justice research report A 2016 report released by the National Institute of Justice, collected data from 3,978 Native American and Alaska Natives (2,473 women and 1,505 men), and found that more than half of the surveyed women had experienced sexual violence at some point. Specifically, 56.1% reported experiencing sexual violence during their lifetime, and 14.4% had experienced such violence in the year preceding the survey. The report also indicated high rates of domestic violence perpetrated by intimate partners, with 55.5% of female respondents reporting having experienced this form of violence in their lifetime. In the year before the survey, 8.6% of women reported having been victims of intimate partner violence.

National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) Findings from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) highlight the violence experienced by Native American and Alaska Native adults. The reported figures reveal that 83 percent of these individuals, or almost 3 million people, have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime. This violence ranges from psychological aggression to physical violence by intimate partners, stalking, or sexual violence. Both women and men in these communities are victimized at similar rates, with rates of 84.3 percent for women and 81.6 percent for men. However, women experience significantly higher rates of sexual violence and stalking compared to men.

In terms of lifetime victimization, Native American and Alaska Native women experience 1.2 times as much victimization as Caucasian women, while men from these communities experience victimization at a rate 1.3 times higher than Caucasian men. More than two in five Native American and Alaska Native female victims reported physical injuries because of this violence, and almost half needed services, most commonly medical care and legal services. More than a third were unable to receive these services. Most victims of violence experienced at least one act of violence committed by someone of a different race. This rate is 97 percent for women and 90 percent for men, while fewer victims experienced violence by an Native American or Alaska Native. This supports the call for the sovereign right of federally recognized tribes to prosecute non-Indian individuals for crimes committed on tribal lands, a right that had been denied until recently.

Federal efforts

The Tribal Sexual Assault Services Program The Tribal Sexual Assault Services Program (TSASP), managed by the U.S. Department of Justice, is an initiative to improve and expand services for victims of sexual assault within tribal communities. The scope of the program is quite broad, covering both Indian Country and Alaska Native villages. TSASP projects are designed to provide direct services to victims of sexual assault, such as crisis intervention, accompaniment through medical and legal proceedings, counseling, and other supportive services. The program also aims to enhance the ability of tribes, tribal organizations, and nonprofit tribal organizations to respond to the needs of sexual assault victims effectively and sensitively.

Funding from the program can also be used for developing and enhancing culturally appropriate and trauma-informed strategies and services. The aim is not only to provide immediate assistance to victims but also to create a systemic change within the tribal communities to better address sexual assault and its aftermath. In addition to direct services, TSASP promotes coordination among tribal, federal, and state law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to ensure an effective response to sexual assault incidents within tribal jurisdiction. The ultimate goal of the program is to reduce the prevalence of sexual violence within tribal communities and to improve access to justice and healing services for victims.

U.S. Department of Justice report In response to the levels of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking experienced by Native American women, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated several measures to enhance the federal response to crimes of sexual violence and support tribal efforts to ensure the safety of Native women.

A 2004 DOJ report that used data from 1992-2002, found that people indigenous to the Americas ages 12 and older experience 5,900 sexual assaults per year. The report also found that Native peoples in the United States are twice as likely to experience rape/sexual assault compared to all other races.