The Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, Indian Law Resource Center, National Congress of American Indians, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, and Native Women’s Association of Canada are co-sponsoring an event to be held during the NGO-Forum of the Commission on the Status of Women’s 60th Session.
The event will take place on Tuesday, March 22nd at 4:30 p.m., at the United Nations Church Center Chapel.
More information can be found here.
The L&C Law School ACLU student group will be hosting the ACLU NW Civil Liberties Conference October 29-30, 2010 at Lewis & Clark Law School. One of the panels we have scheduled is “Access to Justice for Native American Women and Alaska Native Women” and will include the following panelists:
*Barbara Creel, Associate Professor of Law, The University of New Mexico School of Law
*Troy A. Eid, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, Former United States Attorney for the District of Colorado
*Diane J. Humetewa, Of Counsel, Squire Sanders Public Advocacy Worldwide, Former United States Attorney for the District of Arizona
*Robert J. Miller, Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Law School
*Tawna Sanchez, Director of Family Services, Native American Youth and Family Center
*David A. Voluck, Attorney and Chief Judge of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Tribal Court
Conference flier here: ACLUFlier
From NYTs:
Re “Broken Justice in Indian Country” (Op-Ed, Aug. 11):
N. Bruce Duthu rightly points to the need to restore tribal authority over cases of rape and sexual assault committed against Native American and Alaska Native women and to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
Senator Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota recently introduced legislation that would be a tremendous step in this direction. The bill should be strengthened in collaboration with tribal leaders and then passed.
It is also critical to ensure that all available forensic evidence is gathered promptly and correctly after these crimes are reported. Amnesty International researchers have found that often it is not.
Native women who report rape may not get a police response for hours or days, especially in rural areas. Many Indian Health Service hospitals lack personnel trained to provide emergency services to victims of sexual assault. If a rape kit is not administered or is administered improperly, the chances that the perpetrator will be brought to justice are greatly diminished.
Congress should help by increasing financing to ensure that there are enough police officers on tribal lands to respond to these crimes and that sexual assault nurse examiner programs are established in all Indian Health Service hospitals. Larry Cox
Executive Director
Amnesty International USA
New York, Aug. 12, 2008
Turtle Talk 
You must be logged in to post a comment.