Native American women at particular risk for human trafficking, rape,violence

Native American women

The Obama administration has put forth a plan with its purpose "to describe the steps that federal agencies will take to ensure that all victims of human traficking in the United States are identiied and have access to the services they need to recover. This includes steps to create a victim services

network that is comprehensive, trauma-informed, and responsive to the needs of all victims, "a recognition of the serious problems that have taken place, especially among immigrant women and women of indigenous or minority groups or children either male or female in these groups.

The announcement was put up on the Native American Affairs website on January 30.  It is recognition of the problems that have occurred with human trafficking and sexual violence that has taken place in some of the Native American communities.

An article in the Navaho Times in 2013 discusses the problem at some length and quotes Keahi Kimo Souza, Jemez Pueblo Behavioral Health Director, who spoke about the risks within Native American communities.

"There is activity in the Southwest. Reports are coming in from the Bureau of Indian Affairs," Souza was quoted as saying.  The article went on to say how Souza maintained that traffickers use tribal lands to avoid being found crossing state borders.

"These human traffickers will go miles off the Interstate to evade state police," Souza said.

Lisa Brunner, who is a program specialist of the Native American Indigenous Women's Resource Center testified about the seriousness of violence against Native American women.  Indigenous women are far more likely to be raped than women in other cultural groups.  1 in 3 will be raped and 6 out of 10 will be violently attacked.  Brunner reminds people that this has gone on for a long time, since the colonization of the Americas, and that human trafficking is widespread.