Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls & Two-Spirit Peoples

Artist Jaime Black says the REDress Project is an expression of her grief for thousands of Native victims

These are the cases authorities say do not involve foul play

U.S. lawmakers are beginning to grapple with the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Canada’s inquiry suggests the road ahead will be steep.

The death of Gabby Petito draws attention to a form of widespread gendered violence in the US that has long been hiding in plain sight

Gabby Petito’s case highlights the power of media attention but for Indigenous communities it also emphasizes the lack of attention given to missing and murdered Native people

The intentional murder of women because they are women is a problem globally.

It leads to violence against, and the trafficking of, Native women

Attempts to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis could be counteracted by the problems “man camps” cause for reservation communities.

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The Government of Canada is launching a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Reclaim, rematriate, and create.

The Red Women Rising Project strives to increase public awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault as it affects Native American women living urban areas. Through development of various resources, tools, media, and technical assistance, Red Women Rising seeks to promote justice and healing for Urban Indian women.

Our women, girls, and two-spirts are being taken from us in an alarming way. As of 2016, the National Crime Information Center has reported 5,712 cases of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls. Strikingly, the U.S Department of Justice missing persons database has only reported 116 cases. The majority of these murders are committed by non-Native people on Native-owned land. The lack of communication combined with jurisdictional issues between state, local, federal, and tribal law enforcement, make it nearly impossible to begin the investigative process.

Sovereign Bodies Institute (SBI) builds on Indigenous traditions of data gathering and knowledge transfer to create, disseminate, and put into action research on gender and sexual violence against Indigenous people. SBI is committed to: conducting, supporting, and mobilizing culturally-informed and community-engaged research on gender and sexual violence against Indigenous people uplifting Indigenous researchers, knowledge keepers, and data visualists in their work to research and disseminate data on gender and sexual violence against Indigenous people empowering Indigenous communities and nations to continue their work to end gender and sexual violence against Indigenous people, through data-driven partnerships that enhance research efforts, develop best practices, and transform data to action to protect and heal their peoples. SBI is a home for generating new knowledge and understandings of how Indigenous nations and communities are impacted by gender and sexual violence, and how they may continue to work towards healing and freedom from such violence. In the spirit of building such freedom, SBI is strongly committed to upholding the sovereignty of all bodies Indigenous peoples hold sacred--our physical bodies, nations, land, and water--and does not accept grants from colonial governments or extractive industries. Similarly, SBI’s work is not limited by colonial borders, concepts of gender, politics of identity or recognition, or ways of knowing. SBI honors the epistemologies and lifeways of indigenous peoples, and is bound by accountability to the land, our ancestors, and each other. SBI is fiscally sponsored by Open Collective Foundation.

Our mission is to stop violence against Native women and children by advocating for social change in our communities.

Our mission is to stop violence against Native women and children by advocating for social change in our communities.

EDIT May 13, 2019: WPLC & Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program testified on the criminalization of Indigenous Water Protectors before the Inter American Commission on Human Rights in Kingston, Jamaica on May 9, 2019 Bismarck, ND – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) recently announced that it will conduct a hearing on the Suppression of Indigenous Resistance to Extractive Industries in North America. The hearing was requested by the Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC)

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to enhance the operation of the criminal justice system and address the legitimate concerns of American Indian and Alaska Native communities regarding missing and murdered people—particularly missing and murdered indigenous women and girls— it is hereby ordered as follows...

Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women & Girls Task Force (#MMIWG): Governor Official Signing To

Introduced by Representatives Jermaine: Andrade, Biasiucci, Blackman, Blanc, Bolding, Bowers, Butler, Campbell, Cano, Chávez, DeGrazia, Engel, Epstein, Espinoza, Fernandez, Fillmore, Friese, Gabaldón, Hernandez A, Lieberman, Longdon, Meza, Pawlik, Peten, Powers Hannley, Rodriguez, Salman, Shah, Sierra, Teller, Terán, Tsosie, Weninger, Senators Alston, Bowie, Gonzales, Mendez, Navarrete, Otondo, Peshlakai, Steele

Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act are both aimed at protecting Native American women from violence.

Summary of S.982 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Not Invisible Act of 2019

Summary of S.227 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Savanna's Act

Reviewing the Trump Administration’s Approach to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Crisis

This is a summary report on the establishment, mandated mission, and reporting responsibilities of Operation Lady Justice, which is the program launched by the Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives.