Senator Brian Schatz on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Awareness Week and VAWA

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Awareness Week

• 📌 This week is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Awareness Week, highlighting a tragedy that has affected native communities for generations.
• ⚠️ Murder is the third leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaskan Native women and girls, occurring at 10 times the national average.
• ⚖️ American Indians and Alaskan Natives are more than twice as likely to experience violent crimes, including rape and sexual assault, compared to other groups.
• 💔 In Hawaii, 64% of human trafficking survivors are Native Hawaiian.

Federal Government's Role and Neglect

• 🚫 For too long, the federal government failed to take this crisis seriously, making it more convenient to ignore the problem than to investigate and prosecute crimes.
• 😥 This neglect has resulted in a lack of justice for victims and families, who are often left to shoulder the burden of finding answers while grieving.
• 🚨 The speaker emphasizes that the location or demographic of the victims should not diminish the outrage over these crimes.

Progress and Future Work

• ✅ In 2022, Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a significant step toward addressing the crisis.
• 🤝 As Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Schatz worked with Native leaders to restore tribal jurisdiction for certain violent crimes and increase federal resources.
• 📈 While VAWA was an important step, it is acknowledged that more work remains to ensure native people feel safe in their communities.
• 🌟 The commitment continues to advance efforts through the Indian Affairs Committee to find justice and healing for all affected.