Native women experience violence and abuse at higher rates than any other ethnic or racial group in the United States. These alarming rates of violence have motivated tribal communities to take steps to protect Native women and hold offenders accountable. There are numerous barriers to meeting these goals—including jurisdictional concerns, resource limitations, and the silence and stigma that often surround these painful issues—but tribes have developed innovative ways to respond. Recent initiatives include culturally-informed victim advocacy programs, community education and prevention efforts, specialized courts and law enforcement units, improved collaboration with state and federal officials, and mobile forensic response teams. Tribes have also established new ways of intervening with offenders and helping them change their behavior, such as specialized probation, registration and monitoring, batterers programs, and cultural healing processes.
