Stalking Against Native Women

According to Jo Hally, Director, Native American Circle, Ltd., while more than one million women in the United States are stalked each year, American Indian/Alaska Native women are stalked at a rate at least twice that of any other race. Statistics established by the 1998 National Violence Against Women Survey reflect that 17 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women are stalked in their lifetime, compared to 8.2 percent of white women, 6.5 percent of African-American women, and 4.5 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander women.

The reasons for these problems are many and are as uniquely varied as the cultures, customs and traditions of the more than 500 federally-recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The result of complex relationships that have historically existed between tribes and federal and state governments, public policy dating back to the 1830s has over time created substantial jurisdictional issues that directly impact the type and quality of victim response programs in Indian country.

Under a grant from the Office on Violence Against Women, the Tribal Law and Policy Institute has developed and posted a Tribal Protection Order website (see www.TribalProtectionOrder.org ). This website is designed to provide both tribal and non-tribal entities with a clearinghouse of information and resources pertaining to the issuance and enforcement of protection orders.

Articles

Addressing Stalking in Indian Country, by Rebecca St. George, is available on the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse
Website.

Addressing Stalking in Native American Communities by Jo Hally, is available from the National Center for Victims of Crime Website.

Stalking In Indian Country by Hallie Bongar White, is available from the Southwest Center for Law and Policy.
.

The Southwest Center for Law and Policy is a non-profit organization providing legal education and technical assistance on domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, child abuse, abuse of disabled persons, and stalking in tribal communities. The center is located in Tucson, Arizona and travel the nation training law enforcement, attorneys, judges, victim advocates, tribal lay legal advocates, health care professionals, and community members.

Anti-Stalking Laws

Several federal laws make crossing a jurisdictional line (including a tribal jurisdictional line) to commit stalking a federal offense. Read more about these laws at the National Stalking Center Website.

The National Stalking Center Website also highlights a few Tribal Stalking Codes.