Many long lasting health issues continue to impact the prosperity of Native Tribes all over the United states. Sexual abuse in relation to an overuse of drug and alcohol consumption result in the highest suicide rate of any population in the United States.
With the highest rate of both poverty and depression in the United States, it is common for Native Americans to look for drugs and alcohol as an escape from their suffering. In a study performed by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) dating from 2002 to 2005, studies showed that 10.7% of all Native American suffered from an alcohol use disorder opposed to other ethnic groups reporting at only 7.6%. Now 10.7% may not seem like much but with over 5.8 million …show more content…
The correlation between drugs, alcohol, and sexual assault stands out among others and only grows stronger among the Native American population. In a poll taken by the United States Department of Justice, one in three American Indian women reported that they had been sexually abused. This ranks the American Indian’s sexual abuse frequency greater than twice the national average. With rising rates of alcoholism and a lenient tribal police force, sexual abuse commonly goes unnoticed. One thing working against the stop of sexual abuse is a loophole that makes prosecuting non-native men for the sexual abuse of a native woman on tribal lands. “One of the reasons is that when Native American women are abused on tribal lands by an attacker who is not Native American, the attacker is immune from prosecution by tribal courts” stated Obama. Although this longlasting issue seems unsolvable, many steps are being taken towards ending this abuse. On March 7, 2013, President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act originally created by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The original law provided $1.6 billion towards both the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes committed against women while enforcing mandatory compensation for those abused. Over the years, the act has been reauthorized and funding has been cut all leading up to Obama’s stand against abuse on women. With this new act, $5 million is provided for 5 years in an attempt to strengthen tribal justice systems and end the abuse on women for good. With acts like these being implemented, it would make sense for rate of abuse on women to decline; however, in an interview with John Dorsett, the general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians(NCAI), “Only about 100 of the 566 federally recognized
With the highest rate of both poverty and depression in the United States, it is common for Native Americans to look for drugs and alcohol as an escape from their suffering. In a study performed by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) dating from 2002 to 2005, studies showed that 10.7% of all Native American suffered from an alcohol use disorder opposed to other ethnic groups reporting at only 7.6%. Now 10.7% may not seem like much but with over 5.8 million …show more content…
The correlation between drugs, alcohol, and sexual assault stands out among others and only grows stronger among the Native American population. In a poll taken by the United States Department of Justice, one in three American Indian women reported that they had been sexually abused. This ranks the American Indian’s sexual abuse frequency greater than twice the national average. With rising rates of alcoholism and a lenient tribal police force, sexual abuse commonly goes unnoticed. One thing working against the stop of sexual abuse is a loophole that makes prosecuting non-native men for the sexual abuse of a native woman on tribal lands. “One of the reasons is that when Native American women are abused on tribal lands by an attacker who is not Native American, the attacker is immune from prosecution by tribal courts” stated Obama. Although this longlasting issue seems unsolvable, many steps are being taken towards ending this abuse. On March 7, 2013, President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act originally created by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The original law provided $1.6 billion towards both the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes committed against women while enforcing mandatory compensation for those abused. Over the years, the act has been reauthorized and funding has been cut all leading up to Obama’s stand against abuse on women. With this new act, $5 million is provided for 5 years in an attempt to strengthen tribal justice systems and end the abuse on women for good. With acts like these being implemented, it would make sense for rate of abuse on women to decline; however, in an interview with John Dorsett, the general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians(NCAI), “Only about 100 of the 566 federally recognized