A report found 94 per cent of Native American women living in Seattle say they have been raped or coerced into sex at least once in their lifetime. The damning new report — from the Urban Indian Health Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — is believed to be one of the first to examine the experience of native women living in an urban environment instead of on reservations.
Out of the women surveyed, 94 per cent said they had been raped or forced to have sex and 69 per cent claimed they experienced street harassment. Urban Indian Health Institute Director Abigail Echo-Hawk discovered the results of the survey in in the bottom drawer of a file cabinet in the corner of her office. Nevertheless, she said she thinks it is time the community publicly addresses the high rate of abuse and homelessness. Esther Lucero, CEO of Seattle Indian Health Board — the non-profit organisation which oversees the Urban Indian Health Institute — said the reasons for such high rates of abuse and lack of accountability are multifaceted and complex.
She said they partly stem from the historical trauma of colonialism. Back in May , a study by the Department of Justice revealed out of the 2,plus Native American and Alaskan Native women surveyed who lived both on and outside of reservations , 56 per cent had experienced sexual assault and rape. Native Americans often face low education levels, poor health care, substandard housing, and high rates of po verty.
Native American history has included mass killings and attempts to deprive tribes of their land, language, rituals and overall culture. In more recent years, disputes have played out in the form of cultural and legal fights over property and casinos.
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging discussions and hear from the journalists? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more.
Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles.
You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later?
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Long reads. UK Politics. Lib Dems. Green Party. Boris Johnson. Jeremy Corbyn. US Politics. Shappi Khorsandi. Mary Dejevsky.
Robert Fisk. Mark Steel. Janet Street-Porter. Chuka Ummuna. John Rentoul. Matthew Norman. Sean O'Grady. Tom Peck. Rugby union. Miguel Delaney. US sports. Streaming Hub.
Geoffrey Macnab. Clarisse Loughrey. Ed Cumming. Royal Family. Tech news. Tech culture. The Competition. Money transfers. Health insurance. Money Deals. Voucher Codes. Just Eat. National Trust. Subscription offers. Independent Premium app. Daily Edition app.
Chris Blackhurst. Hamish McRae. UK Edition. US Edition. Log in using your social network account. Please enter a valid password. Keep me logged in. Want an ad-free experience? Subscribe to Independent Premium. View offers. Download the new Independent Premium app Sharing the full story, not just the headlines Download now. Shape Created with Sketch. World news in pictures Show all A woman shouts as law enforcement officials move in to disperse a group of immigrants who had occupied a historic church and a square.
They are demanding to be moved to another country as they claim to feel not safe because of xenophobic attacks in central Cape Town, South Africa. Greek border guard use teargas to push back migrants who try to enter Greece at the Pazarkule border gate in Edirne, Turkey. A woman makes her way and NGO's members help as a dinghy with 54 Afghan refugees lands ashore the Greek island of Lesbos. Turkey will no longer close its border gates to refugees who want to go to Europe, a senior official told AFP, shortly after the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in an airstrike in northern Syria.
Men ride a motorcycle past security forces patrolling a street in a riot-affected area of Delhi on Wednesday. Turkish-backed Syrian fighters fire their anti-aircraft gun in the town of Sarmin, about 8 kilometres southeast of the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria, as they take part in a military offensive on the village of Nayrab following an artillery barrage fired by Turkish forces. A security guard wearing a protective face mask stand guard as masked and costumed people walk by during the Carnival in Venice, Italy.
People dressed in traditional Czech folklore costumes parade through the village of Vortova near the east Bohemian city of Pardubice during the traditional Masopust carnival. The festival marks the beginning of Lent. An Iranian woman wearing a face mask shows her inked finger after casting her ballot at a polling station set up at the Abdol Azim shrine during the parliamentary elections in Shahr-e-Ray, Tehran Province, Iran. Iranians are heading to the polls to elect their representatives to the Islamic Consultative Assembly amid a worsening economic crisis and escalating tensions with the US.
Trump's longtime aide will be sentenced in a case that has caused a stir in Washington following meddling by the US president and his attorney general. Stone, one of the Republican leader's allies and "oldest friends," was convicted in November of lying to Congress, tampering with a witness and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to cheat in the election. Members of the Kazakh Emergencies Ministry take cover during a controlled explosion triggering an avalanche for public safety in the Tien Shan mountains outside Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Women chant slogans during a demonstration against gender violence outside the National Palace, in Mexico City. Dozens of women protested over the murder of a seven-year-old girl in the Mexican capital, a case that generated anger and outrage. The murder of the minor shocked the country two days after hundreds of women protested in several cities in Mexico over the femicide of Ingrid Escamilla, a year-old woman who was killed by her partner north of the Mexican capital.
Dogs wearing masks are seen at a main shopping area, in downtown Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of a new coronavirus. Men dressed in loincloths prepare to snatch a wooden stick called "shingi" tossed by the priest during a naked festival at Saidaiji Temple in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture Japan February 15, The person who grabs the wooden stick is considered the "luckiest man of the year".
Squirrels eat treats at a 'Valentine's day party' organised for them by staff in Skopje Zoo, North Macedonia. Internally displaced children stand on snow near tents at a makeshift camp in Azaz, Syria. A worker wears a protective suit as he stands outside an office building while checking people entering in Beijing, China.
The number of cases of a deadly new coronavirus rose to more than in mainland China.