Coalition To Stop Violence Against Native Women

Sunday marked the second anniversary for the National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person’s Awareness Day. The New Mexico Indian Affairs Department partnered with the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women to host an event for families to share their stories with officials – and bring attention to the ongoing crisis.

Among Native American communities, people go missing and experience violence at disproportionately high rates. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) - the first Native cabinet secretary - has been working to implement the Not Invisible Act, which she helped pass as a Congresswoman in 2019. A commission traveled round the country hearing testimony from survivors, advocates, law enforcement and tribal leaders. It released a list of recommendations last November, and now the Departments of Justice and Interior have responded.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the state budget Wednesday which included $200,000 to address the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives. But advocates are saying it’s not enough.

Evacuation centers not managing dual threats of COVID-19 and wildfire smoke

In 2009, Barack Obama became the first president to recognize April as sexual assault awareness month. Since then, numerous initiatives have sought to combat the problem. But one group remains particularly vulnerable. According to the Department of Justice, Native women are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault.

Local Indigenous leader, Angel Charley, testified Thursday at a U.S. congressional hearing highlighting the neglected crisis of missing and murdered Black, brown and Indigenous women and relatives, challenging lawmakers to remove barriers to solving these cases.

Let’s Talk New Mexico 7/22 8am: Earlier this month, a plaque that marked the burial place of Indigenous children who died at the Albuquerque Indian School…

Let’s Talk New Mexico 12/7 8a: Emerging reports of sexual abuse and misconduct are toppling more men in power every week. Newspapers are investigating…

In the wake of 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike’s death in Shiprock on the Navajo Nation, questions have surfaced about law enforcement resources, a late Amber…