Sexual Violence Task Force of Tampa Bay

August 2nd, President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act into law.

And not a moment too soon. On August 3rd, a Long Island (Non-Native) man was arrested for killing his girlfriend's 17-month old son (Native) while babysitting him on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation. Pedro Jones is charged with 1st-degree manslaughter (which does not carry the same punishment as murder, many groups are pushing for an aggravated charge of hate crime) for allegedly hitting the infant several times throughout his body with closed fists, and then grabbing him by the neck. Why?  “I was trying to make him act like a boy instead of a little girl. I never struck that kid that hard before."

There are multiple issues here; however, this case is being treated a little differently than most and hopefully is a sign of things to come with the Tribal Law and Order Act. Generally, when a crime occurs on Native land, the tribal authority has jurisdiction and in those cases, cannot prosecute a non-Native offender. This legislation will make the biggest impact on what is a massive epidemic for Native-American women victims of sexual violence.

Native women are 2.5 times more likely to be a victim of rape than non-Native women, and 86% of the perpetrators are non-Native. 86% of these men who are raping are completely free of punishment or consequence (Native perpetrators can only receive 1 year per offense, if they're convicted, and tribal authority cannot prosecute non-Natives). More than 1 in 3 Native women will be raped in their lifetime. Women from one reservation said they couldn't think of any woman they knew who had not been raped.

Prior to this legislation, complex jursidictional issues impeded and delayed response and investigation often leading to failures in prosecution, having to navigate between tribal, local, state, and federal laws as well as the Native status of victim and offender. Prior to this legislation, there were no standardized sexual assault protocols, with a lack of trained SANEs (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners) and women often not getting a rape kit at all as well as receiving inadequate medical treatment for sexual assault.

The legislation will:

• Clarify the responsibilities and increase coordination among federal, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies with respect to crimes committed in tribal communities;
• Begin to restore tribal governments with authority, resources, and information to address crimes on tribal land;
• Combat violence against Indian and Alaska Native women;
• Increase and standardize the collection and distribution of criminal data in tribal communities, including the data that establishes whether crimes are being prosecuted.

For more information on the study of sexual violence against Native women by Amnesty International, please visit: http://www.amnestyusa.org/women/maze/report.pdf

Emily Taylor Tocci

Change Chair