Sharing Our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence (35 page)

Advocates might also be called upon to assist survivors of sexual assault in the criminal justice system. From the forensic exam to the law enforcement interview to the courtroom, survivors often need support and explanations. For this reason, it is important that advocates are educated about the various components of the criminal justice system. The entire system can be very complex and confusing. Victims find themselves navigating through a criminal justice system marked by a complex maze of laws, jurisdictional boundaries, and authority. Victims are sometimes met with insensitive, uninformed services providers. There can be long delays in the investigative and prosecution process and lack of coordination between all service providers, where communication breaks down, resulting in information not reaching the victim in a timely fashion. The resulting confusion and frustration can leave the victim in fear for her safety, frustrated with the criminal justice process and feeling retraumatized by the entire process. An important role of advocacy is to offer and provide support to the victim as she navigates through this maze, intervene as needed, be a voice when she requests, ensure that her rights are protected and that her safety and confidentiality are a first priority.

Cultivating Skills to Offer Long-Term Support

It is not uncommon for women to seek assistance and support for a sexual assault that happened many years ago. For many women, keeping the sexual assault a “secret” has taken a great deal of energy and stamina. When responding, advocates may want to express understanding and praise for the survivor’s ability to stay so strong. Some survivors find that their lives subsequent to the sexual assault “were never the same” again. They may seek help months or years after the assault because the memories and emotional pain have become overwhelming. Survivors may also experience
triggers
of past events—such as a smell, sight, taste, or sound that reminds them of the event. Even with the passage of time, survivors may still experience the assault as though it just happened yesterday, particularly if the perpetrator was never brought to justice and she continues to see him in the community.

As with a recent assault, advocates can offer holistic support by addressing the four needs: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Even if the assault happened weeks, months, or even years ago, there may still be lasting physical effects. Her body may still carry the pain, tension, and rage that came with the assault. In addition, she may have contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or incurred injuries that have stayed with her. Encouraging the survivor to seek medical attention is one avenue for addressing the physical needs. Other ways to address physical needs may include massages, cedar baths, relaxation exercises—activities that soothe and care for the body. Advocates can encourage survivors to listen to their own bodies and respond accordingly to what is needed.

If the survivor never reported the assault to law enforcement, she may be feeling guilty or frustrated with herself. She may worry that the perpetrator is still walking free or that he got away with the crime. Healing from sexual assault almost always includes a component of finding justice. Even without the contemporary criminal justice system, there may be other ways in which a survivor can find a form of justice. Each survivor has a unique path and journey to finding justice for herself. Justice can be achieved in a variety of contexts, including ceremonies. For some survivors, living a good life can be a form of justice and finding outlets for their anger and feelings of injustice can also be liberating. In this regard, many victims find a sense of justice by working with other victims or by volunteering their time working for social change.

Engaging the System Response

In addition to working with brave and courageous survivors, advocates have the opportunity to work for social change. Social change work requires addressing the societal, cultural, and legal issues that survivors of sexual assault encounter. It means taking risks and speaking out about sexual violence and the root causes of sexual violence. In many communities, there has been extended silence and shame around the issues of sexual abuse. Advocates can help break the silence in many different ways, including community education, outreach, and training.

Community education is a basic skill that advocates should develop in order to address the many myths about sexual assault. There are a variety of methods to educate a community. The following are just a few examples:

• Publish brochures and leaflets to distribute at a pow-wow or other community event where many people are gathered.
  
• Be a guest on the local radio station.
  
• Offer to do education in the local schools.
  
• Write letters and articles for the local newspaper.
  
• Organize a march or vigil to honor survivors.
  

Outreach is another important skill for advocates working on social change. Outreach is slightly different than community education because it specifically targets survivors. Survivors need to know that there is help available in the community. Therefore, advocates may choose to develop specific brochures and business cards that explain the services available and encourage people to call. These should be distributed anywhere survivors might be (which is everywhere)—including health clinics, beauty parlors, community centers, women’s restrooms, tribally owned businesses, and so forth.

Training is the third component of social change. Many times, those in professional positions are not sensitive to the needs of sexual assault survivors. For example, an uneducated law enforcement officer might be gruff or indifferent during an interview with a survivor. An untrained prosecutor might become easily frustrated by a survivor who doesn’t want to testify. A medical doctor might rush through an exam without explaining the various procedures. It is not uncommon for survivors to encounter untrained professionals in an attempt to heal and to find justice from the assault. Advocacy organizations can be called upon to provide training to law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and medical and mental health professionals. In some communities, it might take a lot of effort on the part of advocates to convince the various entities that they need training. A good training program will address myths and misconceptions about sexual assault and explain how different service providers can improve their response to sexual assault. Additionally, advocates can encourage a coordinated community response to rape by helping establish protocol and procedure for the different service providers.

Ultimately, social change requires advocates to constantly challenge the systems that ignore or silence survivors of sexual assault. This element of social change is not easy. Many people are very uncomfortable with discussions about sexual assault. Oftentimes, there is tremendous denial that the crime even occurs in the community. Rape and sexual assault are painful topics, and it can be exhausting work to convince a community that things need to change. Advocates should support one another and take care of themselves to avoid burnout. Advocacy programs need to create protocols and procedures that ensure the safety and well-being of advocates. In their role of helpers, advocates need community-wide support for the work they do to help victims of sexual assault.

Note

1
  Steven W. Perry,
American Indians and Crime: A BJS Statistical Profile 1992-2002
(Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, USDOJ, December 2004, NCJ 203097), available at /
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#aic
.

Questions

1. Name some of the ways in which survivors are impacted by sexual assault.
   
2. What are three common myths about sexual assault? Did you believe any of the myths to be true? Which ones? Can you identify additional myths about sexual assault not mentioned in this chapter?
   
3. What are some common fears of sexual assault victims? What can an advocate do to help alleviate these fears?
   
4. What is meant by a holistic approach to healing from sexual assault? Why is a holistic approach important?
   
5. Why do you think that it is common for women to seek assistance and support from a sexual assault weeks, months, or years after the assault? What are the differences and similarities in advocating for a recent victim and one raped long ago?
   
6. Do you agree that tribal traditions can be helpful in developing a contemporary response to sexual assault? Why or why not?
   

In Your Community

1. Is there silence in your community surrounding sexual violence? If so, why do you think there is silence?
   
2. How would you implement some of the social change components in your community? Do you think people would be receptive?
   

Terms Used in Chapter II

Consent:
To voluntarily agree to an act.

Continuum
: A spectrum; succession.

Holistic:
Refers to a method of healing that focuses on the whole person (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects), not just one aspect.

Protocol:
An accepted system of behavior or procedure.

Stoic:
Seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by joy, grief, pleasure, or pain.

Trigger:
Something (smell, sight, action, noise) that causes a sexual assault victim to remember the experience.

Validating:
Confirming and strengthening.

Suggested Further Reading

Buchwald, Emilie, et al., eds.
Transforming a Rape Culture.
Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed, 1993.

Oden, Mary E., and Jody Clay-Warner, eds.
Confronting Rape and Sexual Assault.
Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1998.

Conversations Between Here and Home

Emma Lee’s husband beat her up
this weekend,
his government check was held up
and he borrowed the money
to drink on.
Anna had to miss one week of work
because her youngest child
got sick
she says, “It’s hard sometime, but
easier than with a man.”
“I haven’t seen Jim for two weeks
now,” his wife tells me on the phone.
(I saw him Saturday with that Anadarko
woman.)

Angry women are building
houses of stones.
They are grinding the mortar
between straw-thin teeth
and broken families.

Joy Harjo (Mvskoke)

Chapter 12

The Role of Advocates in the Tribal Legal System: Context Is Everything

BRENDA HILL

T
he influx of money, resources, and attention to violence against women since the enactment of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is indeed historic, or “herstoric,” if you will. The dominant American culture, for the first time, sent a powerful message that battering women is an unacceptable, violent crime that deserves a societal response.

VAWA defines domestic violence against adult women as a violent crime. Framing battering as a violent crime is appropriate. This perspective has reinforced the need for legal advocacy for women who have been battered and for their children. As women who have been battered have always known, the criminal justice system is limited in what and how it can respond. There is a sense of
futility
and exasperation among Native women because we continue to suffer the highest rates of domestic violence, sexual assault, and murder in America, even given the resources of VAWA. Controversy continues about the ability of criminal justice systems, especially underfunded tribal systems, to hold offenders accountable, much less make significant changes in their behaviors and attitudes toward women. This reality warrants a critical analysis of the assumptions and expectations surrounding the current societal response to violence against women.

Legal advocacy is necessary, but it is only effective if contextualized within the history and dynamics of violence against Native women. Legal advocacy for Native women who are battered must be founded upon an understanding of the root causes of violence against Native women. The dynamics of battering and the role of advocates in the lives of women who have been battered must be understood from the perspective of Native peoples.

Native advocates, whether working with rancherias, pueblos, villages, or PL 280 tribes or “treaty tribes,” know that tribal courts are still in the early stages of development. Both the criminal justice and law enforcement systems are underresourced. It is imperative for legal advocates to understand the dynamics of those systems and the struggles they face in order to accurately perceive their roles and perform their work. All advocates need to free themselves from the strictures of “systems thinking” and think outside the box. Critical and creative thinking that considers the needs of both Native women and their tribes, yet maintains focus on the overall status of Native women, will establish the basis for advocates’ vision, leadership, and solutions to ending the violence. That is the context of our work with individual, unique Native women who are battered, and the status of Native women as a group. As in all things influencing women’s lives, context is everything.