Alaska's sexual assault problem -- trigger warning

[Blue_In_AK]

Last edited Thu Feb 6, 2014, 12:47 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm going to cross-post this here because it seems to be getting lost in GD. Alaska has a terrible reputation for having the highest rate of sexual assault in the country. This article does a very good job of explaining the enormity of the problem we face and why we own this unconscionable statistic.
It's long but worth the read.


http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/03/opinion/sutter-alaska-rape-lawless/index.html

Nunam Iqua, Alaska (CNN) -- Over the course of several years, Beth's boyfriend shattered her elbow, shot at her, threatened to kill her, lit a pile of clothes on fire in her living room, and, she told me, beat her face into a swollen, purple pulp.

These are horrifying yet common occurrences here in the 200-person village of Nunam Iqua, Alaska, which means "End of the Land" in the Yupik Eskimo language.

Yet the violence is allowed to continue in part because Nunam Iqua is one of "at least 75 communities" in the state that has no local law enforcement presence, according to a 2013 report from the Indian Law and Order Commission.

"There would be someone to call for help" if there were police, said Beth, a 32-year-old who asked that I not use her real name because her abuser is still free. "Someone who could actually do something -- right there, as soon as they get the call."
Seems reasonable, huh?

Not in rural Alaska.

Here, state troopers often take hours or days to respond, usually by plane.
The flight takes 45 minutes, at minimum.

<snip>

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. fuck. might want to put a trigger warning in your subject line.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Done - I'm sorry for my oversight

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. thanks for understanding

[Blue_In_AK]

4. I don't usually post in this forum

so I wasn't sensitive to the protocols.

This is such a frustrating issue for us, and all our Republican governor can seem to come up with is fairly useless slogans -- i.e., "Choose respect" -- which is all well and good, but without serious efforts to deal with the alcoholism, lack of law enforcement, etc., it's just empty words.

[seabeyond]

5. yup. no punishments so free game....

i am so not the brilliant one to come up with solutions but the obvious to me would be communities electing there own law and tribal oversights. just the fact that there are no police and access to the areas are difficult is the huge crisis.

thanks

i had been reading about this. thanks to roguevalley and her situation. though i knew a little of it

[Blue_In_AK]

8. Having the tribes take more responsibility for policing has been discussed at length

but our state government doesn't seem too receptive to the idea. I think it would definitely be an improvement.

[seabeyond]

10. one would think if the state gov cant provide security, then they are responsible for a

solution. instead of a meh....

seems like women mean very little to your state gov.

sarah....

[Blue_In_AK]

11. There is a huge urban-rural divide here,

not to mention the racial issues. I don't think our current governor, Sean Parnell, a former oil lobbyist, Club for Growth, Koch fiend, Dominionist, has any empathy for Native women at all nor for the rural subsistence lifestyle nor tribal sovereignty.

[seabeyond]

12. do you think the

tirbal, rural have the ability to police themselves? or do you think that they need a state/federal oversight with controls and boundaries?

lack of education, alcohol. how rural is rural and all encompassing.

[Blue_In_AK]

13. Some guidance maybe,

but the tribes up here handled themselves just fine for 10,000 years. I think they should at least be given a chance.

[seabeyond]

14. i dont think there are really other options. tough one. cause there is the innate prejudice

toward women even in tribes. and there has to be a federal standard on not allowing the thumb rule. cant beat your woman with anything thicker than your thumb. hence the need for federal. yet federal is not provided. kinda crap shoots in electing

[Squinch]

6. Wow. That's a recipe for disaster. Another factor is that, not only is there

no one for these women to call, but also there is nowhere for them to go. For a woman to come to the conclusion that it's time to get out, it's a much bigger decision for someone in a place like that than it would be in a place where you rent a truck and move across town. In a place like the one described, she would have to sever ties and change every aspect of her life. And probably doesn't have the resources to do that.

[Blue_In_AK]

7. A lot of times when the people from the villages move into Anchorage or Fairbanks,

they suffer from so much culture shock that they continue to be extremely vulnerable, especially if they don't have (sober) family and friends already here. People in the L48 really have no idea how different it is in rural Alaska off the road system. It's almost like another country.

[Squinch]

9. I can't imagine. I have chosen to live in urban or near-urban settings, mostly I think because

they give a lot of options for everything, but I don't think I ever understood the importance of options in maintaining domestic safety.