Reducing the high rate of rape of American Indian women will require greater cooperation between the federal and state governments and Indian nations.
One in three American Indian women will be raped some time in their lives. That is 2 1/2 times the rate in the general U.S. population, according to a spring Amnesty International report. U.S. senators on the Indian Affairs Committee began last month discussing the report and possible legislative action.
Tribes want more money for law enforcement, citing that especially on reservations, they don’t have enough officers to patrol vast areas. But short of increasing law enforcement funds, governments have to minimize the bureaucratic hurdles in investigating rapes and in pressing charges against those who rape Indian women.
More than 86 percent of the rapes against native women is committed by non-Indian men, according to the U.S. Justice Department, yet in 1978 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tribal governments have no criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians.
Also, Jason O'Neal, chief of the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police Department in south-central Oklahoma, told The Associated Press recently, “It’s confusing for the victim because they don’t know who they should be calling. A victim of domestic violence may call 911, the sheriff’s office or our office.” Other officers reported rape cases get mishandled because of jurisdictional confusion.
Governments must respect their boundaries, but reducing crime is in the interest of the federal, state and tribal governments. They should establish agreements guaranteeing that victim statements are taken immediately by any available law officer, evidence is protected, and prosecutors cooperate to get the case promptly in the proper jurisdiction.
Rape is one of those crimes that humiliates victims, and they often don’t report it. Poor handling of the cases that are reported will lead fewer women to call authorities when they are sexually assaulted.
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