New Mexico News Port
Journalism and Innovation from The University of New Mexico
  • NM Voices
  • Green NM
  • Political NM
  • Raising NM
  • Justice NM
  • Creative NM
  • Enjoy NM
  • About Us
piechart
March 20 2018

Native American Women Are Scared To Speak Out About Their Abuse

#MeToo Community, Justice New Mexico, New Mexico Voices, Top story

By Felecia Pohl and Autumn Scott / NM News Port /

The #MeToo movement has given women the platform they need to tell their stories, but some women in the Native American community are still apprehensive to speak out. Studies show Native American women are twice as likely to experience sexual violence in their lifetime compared white women to their white counterparts.

Anthony Tillman, Vice President of NNAHRA encourages women to feel comfortable speaking out against sexual violence in their communities. Photo: Courtesy / NM News Port

Anthony Tillman, Vice President of the National Native American Human Resources Association, said sexual violence is hardly reported by native women because a lot of the violence is committed by close family or important community members.

“It happens interfamily,” Tillman said. “It’s their uncles… (or) the pillar of the community that does so much, but has these secrets. You don’t want to be the one to bring that person down. (People think), ‘Nobody is gonna believe me.’ It’s a lot of pressure to come forward.”

According to research conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 68% of Native women were raped by intimate partners, family members, or acquaintances. The other 32% of rapes were committed by strangers.

Based on a 1999 research report conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Native women are more likely to experience sexual violence with someone they know.

Renee Lowden, a Native American woman who works as career tech training manager at Albuquerque Job Corps, said the fear of speaking out runs deep.

“I think sometimes what happens on the reservation is women think, ‘If I report this sexual abuse, is my family gonna back me and if they don’t back me, where am I going?’,” Lowden said.

According to a 2016 research report conducted by the National Institute of Justice and written by Andre B. Rosay, Ph.D., more than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime, that is 84%.. And 56% percent said they experienced sexual violence.

Rachael Lorenzo, Communications and Outreach Coordinator for Native Community Development Associates — a woman-owned company that promotes Native communities — aids survivors of sexual violence, but said she can only help if the women decide to speak up.

“NCDA have such an important role to play from the time a call is made to report an assault, if a call is even made, because not all assaults are reported, especially for native people,” she said. “A police officer visits the home, and usually a social worker will accompany the officer.”

Lorenzo said the police officers and social workers strive to create an environment for survivors in which they feel safe enough to report these incidents. Despite the efforts, some victims are still hesitant to ask for help.

Based on data found in a 2016 research report conducted by the National Institute of Justice and written by Andre B. Rosay, Ph.D., “Sexual Violence vs. Race” shows that Native women are two times more likely to experience sexual assault than white women.

Tillman said women are also afraid to speak up because if they do, they can be ostracized from their community. This can lead to being fired as well as a tarnished reputation, making it hard to maintain a household and find a new job.

“Women learn to keep their mouth quiet about it,” Tillman said.

But, Tillman said, communities need to encourage women to speak up and not fear the retaliation.

“I think you always have to make an example of somebody in order to make the movement strong,” he said. “You have to find someone who is willing to accept the consequences of coming forward.”

Tillman said the encouragement and confidence to speak up starts in the home. Before children are introduced to the opinions of the community, parents should be instilling a sense of morality in their kids. He said just because the community has thought one way for so long, doesn’t mean it’s right. Wrong is wrong.

Tillman said parents need to break the cycle, especially, “if parents have been part of the abuse and they haven’t said anything, the kids see that and they feel like they better not say anything.”

Lowden said sexual violence is not talked about or reported because people have learned to keep it hidden because that’s the norm.

“Another thing that happens is we’re dealing with the daughters of the mother,” Lowden said. “Because we’re dealing with the daughters of the mothers who have been sexually assaulted or sexually abused, it could be that they didn’t have the resources themselves, and so they don’t know how to handle their daughters and their issues and because of that they don’t know how to refer them.”

Based on data found in a 2000 research report conducted by The National Institute of Justice, this graph shows that Native women are raped more than any other race.

But Tillman said tribes have begun to better equip themselves with the tools they need to handle these kinds of situations.

“Managers and supervisors came to me,” he said. “They asked, ‘hey, what can we do? Are people trained? Do our people even know what it looks like? Have we been properly equipped to even identify what sexual harassment or sexual misconduct is?’”

Tillman said NNAHRA holds summits with different tribal nations across the country to discuss and address the problems natives are facing. Tillman said he hopes that with proper training, tribes will learn to better deal with sexual harassment and violence, which in turn will lead to people speaking up when there’s a problem.

But, Tillman said, the policies don’t matter if they’re not met with support.

“We want our women to understand they have a safe place,” he said.

 

Felecia Pohl and Autumn Scott can be contacted on Twitter @FeleciaPohl and @autumnsagekingg.

UNM Struggles To Exchange Students Fight For Broadband Access Unites Four Pueblos

Related Posts

Terrel Velsor

New Mexico Voices, Top story

Accepting himself after sexual assault

fbi ucr logo

Justice New Mexico, Top story

FBI crime data shows statewide decline in rape cases, but an ABQ increase

meto

#MeToo Community, Justice New Mexico, New Mexico Voices, Top story

Native Women Leaders Express #Me-Too Concerns

SUPPORT THE PORT!

If you believe in the mission of NM News Port, please support it!  You’ll help grow student reporters committed to high quality, ethical journalism for New Mexico.  Donate to the Fund for Journalism Innovation at the UNM Foundation!

Search the News Port Archives

Kids, Communities & Politics: Our Focus for 2018

Through 2018 look for News Port to bring attention to local communities in our NM Voices series. We’ll also feature important coverage of child well-being through our Raising NM partnership. Plus, it’s a big election year and Political NM will be an active topic area. Also, we’ll continue reporting on Justice NM and Creative NM!

Follow us @NMNewsPort or by hashtags #JusticeNM, #CreativeNM,  #PoliticalNM, #RaisingNM and #NMVoices.

@NMNewsPort on Twitter

  • It is Friday night at The Box Performance Space and player Fill Jeantete is on-stage hosting a party, celebrating h… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
  • With advancements in virtual and augmented reality, one person devices, like Oculus Rift and Google Daydream, are b… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
  • “Maybe by talking about what I had been through… it can inspire others to tell their stories,” Terrel Velsor said,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
  • “We have heard that fewer young people are going into teaching for a variety of reasons including low pay, mandator… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
  • “I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands— and glass you can make it one day and sell it the next day,” said Lewis… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
→ Follow @NMNewsPort

FEATURED PARTNER

Check out our news partner New Mexico In Depth and their coverage of criminal justice, politics and other statewide issues.

FEATURED PARTNER

Welcome to our newest partner, Searchlight New Mexico, leading the Raising New Mexico coverage throughout 2018.

FEATURED PARTNER

Visit the venerable Daily Lobo, our reporting collaborator on issues that affect the University of New Mexico.

New Mexico News Port
Follow, Share and Engage with NM News Port!
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • NM Voices
  • Green NM
  • Political NM
  • Raising NM
  • Justice NM
  • Creative NM
  • Enjoy NM
  • About Us