International

A body of experts (CERD) will review U.S. compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Indian Law Resource Center and several indigenous women’s organizations submitted an alternative report, Violence Against Indigenous Women in the United States, including the Crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women, and Lack of Safe and Adequate Housing for Indigenous Survivors, to help CERD gain a fuller picture of the serious human rights situation of indigenous women in the United States.

[Helena, MT, July 2, 2019] - The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has recommended that the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States, in cooperation with UN entities, “organize an international expert group meeting, by 2021, on ongoing issues of violence against indigenous women and girls in the region, including trafficking as well as the continuing crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women.” The Permanent Forum made this recommendation in response to the voices of countless indigenous advocates and allies who have done so much work to bring awareness to

In October, the Indian Law Resource Center, the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, and the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, bringing international attention to the high rates of violence against Native women in the United States and the unworkable, discriminatory criminal jurisdictional scheme that limits Tribes’ authority and ability to address this crisis in reservation communities. The Commission, astonished by what they heard, pledged to continue monitoring the situation and to assist in any way. (More ...)