Senator Cortez-Masto first introduced the No Violence Against Indigenous Women Act on the Senate Floor on Friday during morning business. Cortez-Masto is “hoping to create a committee and task force dedicated to the research, investigation, and prosecution of native women in America.” This task force and its resources will be funded by $50 million from the National Treasury.
This bill addresses a dire need to combat shocking levels of violence against indigenous women. “The National Institute for Justice reported that 81% of indigenous women in America experienced violence in their lifetimes, and in recent years it was reported that more than 730,000 indigenous women have experienced violence,” shared Senator Cortez-Masto in her address to the Senate floor. In addition, as stated in the bill, American and Alaskan indigenous women experience human trafficking risk factors at disproportionately higher rates, and there are rarely investigations of human trafficking within indigenous lands.
Lisa Murkowski, Senator from Alaska, co-signed the No Violence Against Indigenous Women bill. “The bill is a necessity, not only for native peoples but for Americans. It’s a common sense bill, it ensures equality, it ensures the protection of native people, and in Alaska we need that,” said Murkowski.
Secretary of Domestic Affairs Deb Haaland also expressed her support of the bill. “It’s a topic that I hold very near and dear to me as an indigenous woman myself,” said Haaland. Haaland’s home state, New Mexico, as well as many other Southwestern states have very high rates of missing and murdered indigenous women. As Secretary of the Interior, Haaland created a task force that focused on missing and murdered indigenous women. She is happy to see more Congressional support of Indigenous people. “I’ve been seeing Congress pushing at a lot more bills pertaining to indigenous people. . .for so long in our government we’ve been neglected. I’m finally starting to see more and more Senators coming together [for] this cause,” said Haaland.
The bill, which was scheduled to go to the Budget and Judiciary committees on Monday, has not yet been discussed by either committee due to a shortage of time. Senator Murkowski is hopeful as the bill is scheduled to go to committee again this Monday: “With the bipartisan support that we have, I think it’s gonna pass committee. We’re gonna get it on the floor.”
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