VAWA Passes House Sans Tribal Court Provisions

Jacie Estes

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American Indian women have been dealt a bad hand, are we seriously going to be relegated to being 'squaws' again? Squaw is a word that I loath, for me it is not a cutesy appellation of endearment for a Native woman. IF someone dared to call me that they are calling me 'the C word' and I don't like it! Squaw is a word that even some Indians contend is not derogatory, I am not one of those Indians.

"We tried to find out what the children found painful about school [causing a very high dropout rate]. (...) The children said that they felt humiliated almost every day by teachers calling them "squaws" and using all those other old horrible terms". LaDonna Harris, Comanche social activist from Oklahoma.

A reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) passed the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on May 16 sans tribal court protections for Native Americans that had previously made it through the U.S. Senate.

The bill, known as H.R. 4970, passed by a vote of 222 – 205 along mostly party lines.

The White House has vowed that President Barack Obama will veto the House bill if it is sent to his desk for signature. Before the vote, the Obama administration issued a policy statement that said the House legislation retreats from the “forward progress” of the Senate legislation, which passed along bipartisan lines.


Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...visions-113487 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...ixzz1v83u4400][/i]

American Indian women experience domestic violence at a rate much higher than other women; 60% of Indian women, 3 in 5, will experience domestic violence, this is not always at the hand of Indian men. On 5/16/2012 the Republican controlled House of Reprersentatives said that Indian women didn't need the protection of tribal courts against white men who assault/abuse Indian women; this protection is lost because of cross jurisdictional issues. We don't need the protection of laws made by the House, we are left to twist in the wind. The Senate and the President realize the importance of protection for ALL women, the House, by majority, doesn't get it.

The US government uses the term domestic dependent nation to describe American Indians yet yesterday they proved that Indian women are not important enough to protect by law. I reiterate, we have become squaws again.
 
Aaand once again marginalized groups of people end up screwed when the lawmakers put politics ahead of ... Well ... Simply being a decent human being.

This year has been one set back after another for all women, now AI women get an extra set back on top of everything else.

Now will wait to see what, if anything, the administration and/or the sponsoring congress folks have to say or will do.

:furious:
 
Aaand once again marginalized groups of people end up screwed when the lawmakers put politics ahead of ... Well ... Simply being a decent human being.

This year has been one set back after another for all women, now AI women get an extra set back on top of everything else.

Now will wait to see what, if anything, the administration and/or the sponsoring congress folks have to say or will do.

:furious:

When I watched the live stream of the committee hearing and the vote, I was stunned. That they could so callously disregard a segment of the population, especially a segment that is so heavily impacted. The President said he would veto it. It is sad to see waste of time and energy while women are being assaulted and murdered.

The LGBT/Immigrant pops fared no better.
 

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