Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Movement

Presented by: Brenda S. Golden BBA, MBA, J.D. Muscogee (Creek) Nation Okmulgee, Oklahoma Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women No one knows when the phenomena known as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women began, some say from the very beginning of colonization of the Americas.

In this hour we will briefly discuss Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women of three countries located in North America: Canada, the United States and Mexico and the legal steps and community actions taken to address it.

Communities, tribal governments, organizations and individuals have worked tirelessly to bring awareness to the issue of MMIW and it is finally getting recognition by national, federal, state and local governments. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Dozens of Canadian women and girls, most of them indigenous, have disappeared or been murdered near Highway 16, a remote ribbon of asphalt that bisects British Columbia and snakes past thick forests, logging towns and impoverished Indian reserves on its way to the Pacific Ocean. So many women and girls have vanished or turned up dead along one stretch of the road that residents call it the Highway of Tears. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

The “Highway of Tears” in Canada, is the location of many murders and disappearances beginning in 1970.

There are a disproportionately high number of Indigenous women on the list of victims. Proposed explanations for the years‐long endurance of the crimes and the limited progress in identifying culprits include systemic racism, poverty, drug abuse, widespread domestic violence, disconnection with traditional culture and disruption of the family unit through the foster care system and Canadian Indian residential school system. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Poverty in particular leads to low rates of car ownership and mobility, thus hitchhiking is often the only way for many to travel vast distances to see family or go to work, school, or seek medical treatment.

Another factor leading to abductions and murders is that the area is largely isolated and remote, with soft soil in many areas and carnivorous scavengers to carry away human remains; these factors precipitate violent attacks as perpetrators feel a sense of impunity, privacy and the ability to easily carry out their crimes and hide evidence. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women The Highway of Tears and the disappearances of the indigenous women have become a political scandal in British Columbia. But those cases are just a small fraction of the number who have been murdered or disappeared nationwide. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have officially counted about 1,200 cases over the past three decades, but research by the Native Women’s Association of Canada suggests the total number could be as high as 4,000.

A United Nations report last year described measures by the previous government to protect aboriginal women from harm as “inadequate” and said that the lack of an inquiry into the murders and disappearances constituted “grave violations” of the women’s human rights. Failures by law enforcement, it added, had “resulted in impunity.” Source: New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/25/world/americas/canada‐indigenous‐ women‐highway‐16.html Want to know more about the Highway of Tears?

“Women Are Disappearing From This Canadian Highway Without A Trace, And No One Knows Why” ‐ https://www.ranker.com/list/highway‐of‐tears‐ facts/nathan‐gibson

Highway of Tears ‐ https://www.highwayoftears.ca/

Highway of Tears – 2015 Movie by Matthew Smiley

A haunted highway ‐‐ 18 or more girls and women missing or murdered. Can a new $30 million investigation help find their killers? "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant investigates. ‐ https://www.cbsnews.com/video/highway‐of‐tears‐3/ Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Indigenous women in the United States experience some of the highest rates of violence and murder in the country, according to federal data. Tribes and advocates attribute this to a confluence of factors ‐ institutional racism, a lack of resources for tribes, and complicated jurisdictions that undermine tribal sovereignty.

All of this has led to what tribal and federal officials have called a crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women in the US.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that murder is the third leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women The National Crime Information Center reports that, in 2016, there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, though the US Department of Justice’s federal missing persons database, NamUs, only logged 116 cases. According to an article by judge Ruth Hopkins, in the United States, unlike other demographics where perpetrators are most likely to be from the victim's own community and ethnic group, Indigenous women are usually sexually assaulted by non‐Natives. According to the South Dakota Public News Service, in the United States, "[t]wo‐thirds of assaults or rapes against Native American women are committed by white and other non‐Native American people, but prosecution is difficult because non‐Native men can't be arrested or prosecuted by tribal authorities if the assault occurs on a reservation." UIHI identified 506 unique cases of missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls across the 71 selected cities—128 (25%) were missing persons cases, 280 (56%) were murder cases, and 98 (19%) had an unknown status. http://www.uihi.org/wp‐content/uploads/2018/11/Missing‐ and‐Murdered‐Indigenous‐Women‐and‐Girls‐Report.pdf Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women • In a report released by the Urban Indian Health Institute, Echo‐Hawk and Lucchesi say nearly 60 percent of police departments either did not respond to the request or returned partial or compromised data —with some cities reporting an inability to identify Native victims, and others relying exclusively on human memory.

• Searching news outlets to fill in the gaps was no solution: Of the 506 disappearances and murders they were able to document; the majority were never covered by any news outlet.

• As a result, the missing and murdered indigenous women have disappeared "not once, but three times," the researchers write: "in life, in the media, and in the data." Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Native women living on tribal lands are murdered at an extremely high rate —in some communities, more than 10 times the national average, according to research funded by the Department of Justice.

And in part because of jurisdictional challenges, the disappearances can be hard to track and prosecute. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

• On‐going struggles : • Jurisdictional – Federal, State, County, Tribal, Private • Lack of –Emergency Services, Amber Alert, Counseling, Family Services • Relationships between governing entities • FBI and Tribal Communication • State and Tribal Communication • Overall Community Awareness • Diversity of Tribal Communities Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women “Police In Many U.S. Cities Fail To Track Murdered, Missing Indigenous Women” ‐ https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/667335392/police‐in‐ many‐u‐s‐cities‐fail‐to‐track‐murdered‐missing‐indigenous‐women

“Congress tackles crisis of missing and murdered Native American women” ‐ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress‐crisis‐missing‐ and‐murdered‐native‐american‐women/

A NATIONWIDE CRISIS: MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN & GIRLS ‐ https://www.uihi.org/wp‐ content/uploads/2018/11/Missing‐and‐Murdered‐Indigenous‐Women‐ and‐Girls‐Report.pdf Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

From the mid‐1990s to the present day, more than a thousand women have been killed in Juárez, Mexico a city of less than two million inhabitants. In many cases, the women’s bodies have been found in the desert that surrounds the city or on vacant lots and bear the signs of torture and sexual cruelty. Most of these crimes have remained unpunished.

The term “feminicide” has gradually emerged as the preferred concept to describe this intolerable situation, which is far from being specific to Mexico. While it refers first and foremost to the fact of killing a woman simply because she is a woman, the concept of feminicide also calls into question the responsibility of all levels of the state, where those involved help to maintain this impunity through their negligence or casual attitudes toward this crime. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women From 1993‐2003, 370 women were murdered in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico. In 2018, the government’s own figures counted more than 37,000 ‘desaparecidos’.

In Mexico, an average of nine women are believed to be murdered every day, according to UN Women’s latest figures released in November 2018.

The country's criminal code does specifically reference femicides, defining the crime as one “that deprives a woman of her life for gendered reasons”, evidence of which include signs of sexual violence; “degrading” injuries; a history of violence at home, work or school. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women While there are state and federal laws on the books to address and stop violence against women, they are rarely if at all enforced. Between 2010 and 2011, only four percent of femicide cases resulted in sentences in the country. https://nacla.org/news/2019/02/04/surviving‐one‐ mexico%E2%80%99s‐deadliest‐places‐women https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/how‐one‐woman‐is‐ mapping‐femicides‐in‐mexico/ Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women What is the history and origin of MMIW?

• Institutional racism (also known as systemic racism) is a form of racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions.

• European women norms vs. indigenous women as seen by colonizers

• Your thoughts?? Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Current efforts to address MMIW:

1. Congress – introduced by native members (Savanna’s Act failed in the Senate in 2018) 2. States (Montana, North Dakota, Arizona, Washington) 3. Resources, training and education for women and girls 4. Tribal government programs 5. Grant funded programs for education and training Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Community Actions:

1. Raising Awareness – marches, red hand, and media events 2. Educating the public and government officials 3. Lobbying for legislation and database tracking 4. Initiating MMIW chapters 5. Forming support groups for families and friends 6. Providing resources to inform and protect Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

• National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls ‐ The US declared May 5, 2018 as a national day of awareness • Women's Memorial March – February 14 • Sisters in Spirit Vigils • REDress Project • Walking with Our Sisters • Faceless Dolls Project The epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women continues to globally escalate, as missing persons cases, lack of recognition of violence against Indigenous women, and a critical lack of institutional documentation of violence continue to under‐ represent the full scope of abuse against Indigenous women and girls. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women “The Search: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women” ‐ https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/faultlines/2019/05/search‐ missing‐murdered‐indigenous‐women‐190506132615795.html

“Thousands of killed or missing Indigenous women and girls are victims of a 'Canadian genocide,' report says” ‐ https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/03/americas/canadian‐genocide‐ indigenous‐women‐and‐girls‐report/index.html

CNN's Segment on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, which includes commentary from Senator Lisa Murkowski on her legislation to combat this epidemic. https://youtu.be/iM6etZ67JoA Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Resources about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women ‐ https://guides.lib.uwo.ca/indigenous_collections/mmiw

“Advocates strive to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women in the US and Canada” ‐ https://www.pri.org/stories/2019‐05‐08/advocates‐strive‐raise‐awareness‐ about‐missing‐and‐murdered‐indigenous‐women‐us

Takeaway host Tanzina Vega moderated a discussion about missing and murdered indigenous women at Salt Lake City's public radio station KUER. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/utahs‐missing‐ and‐murdered‐indigenous‐women Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women