Petition Drive Urges Immediate Action to Protect Native Women

Helena, Mont. --  The Indian Law Resource Center launched a petition drive this week urging lawmakers to reauthorize a stronger version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to protect Native women from violence.  The goal is to obtain 100,000 signatures by October 1, 2012.

“By passing a stronger VAWA, lawmakers can not only continue the safeguards now in place, but also expand protections to stop the epidemic rates of violence against Native women,” said Jana Walker, senior attorney and director of the Indian Law Resource Center’s Safe Women, Strong Nations project. 

The online petition calls upon lawmakers to take immediate action to stop the violence because “Native women are raped, battered, and stalked at epidemic levels that are disproportionately higher than any other group of women in the United States.”

In April, the Senate passed S. 1925, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act with provisions that would help tribes address domestic violence and dating violence in Indian country; however, the House passed a version stripping out these provisions.  Since then, procedural logjams and politics have kept Congress from taking action.

“Congress is being called on to stand with Indian nations to stop this epidemic of violence against Native women.  We encourage people to share the petition on their social media channels and repost or tweet the link,” said Walker.

For more information and resources visit www.indianlaw.org.