A hidden crisis for Native American women
The statistics are grim:
- Four out of five indigenous women are affected by violence in the United States.
- The murder rates of indigenous women are 10 times the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
- Homicide is the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women ages 10-24 and the fifth-leading cause of death for those ages 25-34, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2016, the National Crime Information Center reported more than 5,700 cases of missing Native American women and girls. Yet a recent study, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls, found that there were only 506 open case in major urban areas.
In an attempt to address this important topic, The University of Texas at Arlington will host a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman symposium at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, in the Lonestar Theatre in the Maverick Activities Center. UTA’s Native American Student Association is the main sponsor, along with the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice in the College of Liberal Arts.
The keynote speaker is University of Kansas Professor Sarah Deer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She believes that Native women are vulnerable to violence because of structural inequalities in the legal system. Deer’s efforts were instrumental in the passage of the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, which resulted in her induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
“It is imperative that we come together and address this crisis by learning from one another,” she said.
The symposium also will feature a panel of nationally known speakers and law enforcement personnel, including Shannon Cozzoni, assistant U.S. attorney and tribal liaison in the Northern District of Oklahoma; Olivia Gray, director of the Osage Nation Family Violence Programs; and representatives from the Tulsa (Okla.) Police Department.
The event is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to register in advance.