Straight up disclaimer: this ain't a crafty post at all. In fact, it's about a human rights tragedy right here in the USA, and things I might try to do to counteract it. If this isn't your cup of tea, I promise quilty content in the next post. Or at least knitty content, as this weekend is in fact Stitch N Pitch...
For anyone still here... Thanks for sticking around! In the last few weeks, more and more buzz has been building around a truly horrific statistic. 1 in 3 Native American and Alaska Native women in the USA will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes. Approximately 80% of the assaults are committed by non-natives, and thanks to challenges posed by federal law, BIA limitations, pathetic law enforcement budgets, and more, very few rapists are ever arrested- or even questioned! I'm not a great or even very good writer. And I haven't done the original research on this myself. To learn more about this issue, I'll send you over to Amnesty International, who are working hard to make changes. The page I've linked to has a great collection of information accessible to you...
Or, go take a listen to a poignant 2 part series at NPR. I was so engrossed in the car yesterday, I was driving on autopilot. I showed up at Train Boy's daycare to pick him up- but The Hubby had gotten him 30 minutes earlier. And had told me so on the phone.
Why I am posting this scatterbrained series of paragraphs? Well, I think it is truly shameful that conditions like this can exist in my own country. And I'd like to make sure more people hear about this in the hopes that we can be the beginning of a change. Changes in laws, in funding, in expectations, and in the quality of life for indigenous women. I've been an Amnesty International supporter for years now, but I'm not certain I've ever been this fired up over an issue.
Tomorrow: back to our regularly scheduled topics...
Listening to just the law enforcement limitations discussed in the NPR series was mind boggling. It was eye-opening information, to say the very least.
Posted by: amy | July 27, 2007 at 11:47 AM
This is terrible. I don't blame you for being engrossed and horrified.
Posted by: Jan Andrews | July 27, 2007 at 06:19 PM
That just bites...I know that the Amish community go through the same kind of abuse from their own 'family', and nobody seems to be able to do anything about it.
Thanks for this post!
Posted by: Beth | July 29, 2007 at 06:59 AM
That just bites...I know that the Amish community go through the same kind of abuse from their own 'family', and nobody seems to be able to do anything about it.
Thanks for this post!
Posted by: Beth | July 29, 2007 at 06:59 AM
Thank you for sharing - using your blog to call attention to the plight of others is a great thing to do. The more people stand up to make a difference, the sooner things can change.
Posted by: Miss Scarlett | July 30, 2007 at 01:28 AM
I heard the same report and was horrified. It frightens me to think that there is no protection. What will we become?
Posted by: Flippytale Quilter (Christine) | July 30, 2007 at 06:12 AM