"Police and advocates for women on the White Earth Indian Reservation are trying to break the cycle of domestic violence.

A $700,000 federal grant will pay for a domestic violence investigator and expand a victims' advocacy program. The money also will fund a new women's shelter on the White Earth reservation this year.

The new programs will help address a crisis of violence. One in three American Indian women will be raped sometime in their life, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

American Indians also are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted compared to all other races.

On the White Earth Indian Reservation, officials say poverty, alcoholism and isolation contribute to an environment in which violence against women is all too common.

Assistant White Earth Human Services Director Ben Bement recalls trying to convince a woman to break the cycle of sexual abuse in her family.

"Her comment was, 'I lived through it, my kids will live through it.' " Bement said. "And that apathy is just part of the thing because there are so many barriers to overcome you almost give up.""

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In White Earth, breaking the cycle of domestic violence 9Minnesota Public Radio 5/12)