Jolene Holgate

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.

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.