University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Fall Farewell Issue 2019
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Fall Farewell Issue 2019
Native women face higher rates of assault By Allison Garfield CITY NEWS EDITOR
Twenty percent of women will be sexually assaulted at some point in their lives — but that number jumps to 45 percent when applied to Native American women, according to the National Sexual Violence Research Center. Native American women have been at higher risk for crimes related to sexual violence for decades now, across the country, state and on college campuses. Despite the innate relationship between Wisconsin land and Native American communities, the UW-Madison participated in the Association of American Universities Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct for the first time in 2015. The results showed close to 50 percent of Native American women on campus have experienced some form of sexual violence. UW-Madison took part in the AAU survey for a second time in 2019, releasing its findings in October. The results reflected similarities to 2015 — and even an increase in some percentages related to Native American women. This year, 66 percent of American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander females on campus experienced sexual harassing behaviors; however, not enough women in the category reported sexual assault for a percentage to even be calculated. Barriers in data collection When considering absent percentages, some technical factors
come into play, like changes in the survey questions from 2015 and also the sample size of the indigenous population on campus compared to total students. Native American students made up less than one percent of
And these numbers probably aren’t fully representative of the actual rate Native American women experience sexual violence as they often don’t report to authorities, according to Megan Thomas, communications specialist with the National Sexual
generations. Those memories, those events, those traumas will be passed down through generations and can lead to distrust of law enforcement.” Even when women do report, Thomas stated that Native American communities can experience geo-
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROYAL BROIL VIA FLICKR
Native American women have been at higher risk for crimes related to sexual violence across the state and country. the student body for the fall 2019 semester, according to the Office of the Registrar. Nonetheless, similar findings to the UW-Madison AAU survey highlighting the discrepancy between experiencing and reporting sexual assault parallel other university campuses, reservations, work environments and cities across the country.
Violence Resource Center. “What we know is that there are a lot of barriers in place for any survivor of sexual assault to come forward, but there are some that are even more specific to Native American survivors,” Thomas said. “One of the things we hear about is historical trauma: this collective injury on a population that can carry across
graphical barriers, like lack of access to law enforcement or medical care. The University has expanded its resources for students in the past decade. There is now a department in University Health Services dedicated to violence prevention, a designated Title IX coordinator position and new requirements for students. But the rates persisted.
Perpetrators and jurisdiction There are various factors in addition to lack of trust with law enforcement that keep women from reporting their experience. Thomas stated that another hindrance has to do with the perpetrators, who are mainly white. While 35 percent of Native American women experience violence from other Native Americans, that number increases to 97 percent when considering those who experience violence by an interracial perpetrator, according to the National Institute of Justice. Native women experiencing these crimes at a higher rate than other racial and ethnic groups is not a coincidence, it’s an epidemic, according to Samantha Skenandore, member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and lawyer in service to tribal nations for 15 years. Skenandore, who focuses her practice on both federal Indian law and tribal law, has represented 80 sexual assault victims, most of whom were indigenous clients. Of those, 78 were women. “Most cases I’ve worked on involves a white male on tribal territory assaulting a native woman,” Skenandore stated. “It’s almost always that case. And how do you stop it? Well, who are the perpetrators and where are the crime taking place? Because that defines [the] jurisdiction.” Crimes committed against Native American women on the UW-Madison campus are taking
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“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”