How Can International Advocacy Reduce Violence Against Native Women?

Special Collections | UN Commission on the Status of Women | UN Human Rights Council | UN Special Rapporteurs | UN Treaty Bodies | Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | UN Permanent Forum

While advocacy on the domestic level is vital, it is important to recognize that violence against Native American women also has implications in the international arena.  The United States government's failure to respond to the epidemic of violence against Native American women is a human rights violation under international law.  Advocacy at the international level can complement and strengthen advocacy efforts on the domestic level. 

International advocacy can: 

  • raise awareness of and inform the international community about the epidemic of violence against Native women;
  • educate legislators and policy makers in the United States about their international human rights obligations to Native women;
  • provide new legal arguments for increasing protection of Native women from violence;
  • mobilize other human rights groups to engage with the United States on this issue;
  • allow international human rights bodies to comment on United States' actions and whether they meet the United States' international obligations; and
  • increase pressure on the United States by shaming it in the international arena. 


Indian Law Resource Center Special Collections


UN Commission on the Status of Women

UN Human Rights Council

UN Special Rapporteurs


UN Treaty Bodies


Inter-American Commission on Human Rights


UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples