Democratic Rep. Deb Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, who represents New Mexico and is one of the first Native American women ever elected to Congress, is a long-standing advocate for women and girls. In particular, she has a close focus on violence against Indigenous women, and the terrifyingly high rates of missing and murdered women (and girls) each year. You might remember that earlier this year, she supported legislation to improve efforts between tribal leaders and law enforcement, as well as to reduce violence against Indigenous peoples overall.
Now, she’s calling the results from a recent report a “significant step” in protecting this extremely vulnerable population.
As reported by Global News, Rep. Haaland told the site in an email on Tuesday that, “we’ll have more momentum to address missing and murdered Indigenous women epidemic on a larger scale,” in reference to the final report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada. The 1,200-page report details thousands (yes, thousands) of these cases across Canada.
The report isn’t just numbers, either; according to Haaland, it makes an important point in addressing the ways the government has failed to protect Indigenous populations. Then, it gives recommendations across the board—the public, the police, and the government—for how to help.
And while this report details Canada, it’s important to note that in the United States, we don’t have any sort of database for this specific to Indigenous populations. While we have data from, for example, the FBI that shows the rate women go missing or are murdered, we don’t have an isolated one for a population that desperately needs it.
Curious about the numbers here in the United States? As reported by the FBI (and, remember: these numbers may be on the low end, due to underreporting), Native Americans disappear at twice the per capita rate of white people—and this is in spite of the fact that they are a way smaller population. In 2008, the Department of Justice discovered that Native women (who live on tribal lands) are murdered at 10 times the national average. Ten times.
“The epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women has been a silent crisis for far too long,” Haaland said in her email to Global News. “Now that indigenous communities are finding their voice through advocacy, we’re raising this issue so that our mothers, daughters, and sisters stop disappearing without a trace.”
Rep. Haaland has spoken on this issue many times, including in this emotional clip, where she was questioning a witness at a hearing on murdered and missing Indigenous women:
She also published an amazing OpEd over at The Guardian last month, describing this violence as a “silent crisis” and “epidemic,” both of which are true. If you missed it then, the piece is definitely worth a read.
The congresswoman posts about this issue often on Twitter, which helps to raise important visibility for a severely under-discussed problem. It’s also worth noting that promoting and sharing Indigenous voices is a key (and accessible) way to raise visibility. And that people directly impacted shouldn’t be the only ones carrying that burden.
Back in April, she introduced two related amendments in the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization (VAWA), to have efforts to end this crisis specifically against Indigenous women included. Specifically, this expanded tribal jurisdiction for sex trafficking, child abuse, stalking, and sexual violence. And the previously mentioned improved communications between levels of law enforcement, from local to federal.