'No one cares' about violence against Native women

Monday, April 30, 2007  

Karen Artichoker, the director of a women's shelter on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, said reaction to the Amnesty International report about violence against Native women shows how "invisible" Native people are to the general population.

"Indian women are the most victimized population in the United States, and no one cares," she told The Rapid City Journal.

Artichoker said the Department of Justice has been reporting as far back as 1998 about high rates of violence against Native women. But people appear to be surprised by the Amnesty report, she said.

"I just think it points to how invisible Native people are, and particularly Native women," she told The Journal.

A federal prosecutor in South Dakota said about 20 percent of criminal cases at Pine Ridge involve some type of sexual abuse. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Mandel said jurisdictional issues do not prevent his office from prosecuting such crimes.

Get the Story:
Statistics on violence nothing new (The Rapid City Journal 4/30)

Get the Report:
Full Report | Press Release

Online Discussion:
Violence against Native American and Alaska Native Women (April 24, 2007)

Relevant Links:
Join Voices with Native American and Alaska Native Women and Take Action to Stop the Violence - http://www.amnestyusa.org/maze

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