The Plague on Natives

A Plague on Native Americans

Dianna Robertson

Grand Canyon University

Soc-100-0501, Everyday Sociology

Candice Morris

February 13th, 2022,

Deviance and Its Consequences

A Plague on Native Americans

Deviance is a violation of any norm (Henslin, 2019). Rape, in any society is seen as a deviant behavior. According to Bachman, en alt, (2008), American Indian and Alaska Native are 3 times as likely to experience a rape or sexual assault than the average citizen. The Native nations are at a loss on how to combat this issue. Rape among the female Native American/ Alaska Native population can be addressed when we analyze the demographics, community involvement, and lack of results where these victimizations occur.

Demographics

6,956 American Indian and Alaska Native were raped or sexually assaulted between the years of 1992-2005 (Bachman, en alt, 2008). The occurrence of rape and sexual assault within this community has steadily increased in recent years. Rainn, (2022), reported 5,900 sexual assaults occurring per year in Native Americans ages 12 and older. Drugs and alcohol seemed to play a role in some instances of these assaults. 68% of American Indian and Alaska Native sexual assault victims claiming that their attackers had been drinking/taking drugs before the offense, and 28.6% of female respondents reported that they had been forced to have sex by their intimate partners (Bachman, en alt, 2008).

Inside the Native Community

Indian nations have pushed for more inclusion in the prosecution of those who commit these crimes on tribal land. With recent law changes Indian nations are finally able to prosecute non-Indians that have committed domestic violence on tribal land (Indian Law Resource Center, 2022). Efforts to bring awareness to the sexual assault of native women has been focused on addressing the external forces but fails to address the internal aspects. A study completed by Bachman, en alt, (2008) found that one-third of the instances of rapr or sexual assault that occur within the American Indian and Alaska Native community were committed by other American Indian and Alaska Natives. To address the issue of sexual assault and rape among this group of women it is important to address the internal aspects as well for a more effective approach.

Attempts to Control Deviant Behaviors

There are many instances of rape or sexual assault within the Native American and Alaska Native populace. Indian nations blame the race-based criminal jurisdictional system within the United States for limiting their ability to protect Native women from violence (Indian Law Resource Center, 2022). The lack of availability of resources in tribal nations, lack of cooperation of the US justice system, and lack of results from cases reported has made it more difficult to control the issue. Bachman, en alt, (2008), states that 53% of all assaults against American Indian and Alaska Native women were reported to police, with only 32% being made by the victim. However, the arrest of a perpetrator is rare in cases where the rape and sexual assault victims made a report with the police, regardless of racial status (Bachman, en alt, 2008).

Conclusion

Rape among the female Native American/ Alaska Native population can be addressed when we analyze the demographics, community involvement, and lack of results from reporting these cases to the police. The statistics speak from themselves, with Native American and Alaska Natives coming in the number one spot for cases of sexual assault and rape. Leaders within the Native Communities are seeking to gain the ability to better address the issue by forcing the US to implement better laws to protect their citizens and prosecute Non-Indians who commit these crimes on native land. A lack of results when these crimes are reported to police has hugely impacted the efforts to decrease the rates of sexual assault and rape among this community.

References:

Abril Castro, Connar Maxwell, Danyelle Soloman, (2019). Systematic inequality in American Democracy, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/systematic-inequality-american-democracy/

Rainn, (2022). Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics, https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence

Ronet Bachman, Heather Zaykowski, Rachel Kallmyer, Margarita Poteyeva, Christina Lanier, (2008). Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and the Criminal Justice Response: What is Known, https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/223691.pdf

Indian Law Resource Center, (2022). Ending Violence Against Native Women, https://indianlaw.org/issue/ending-violence-against-native-women