Native American intimate partner violence (IPV) victims face many barriers to accessing appropriate services, and service providers encounter many challenges in providing care to this vulnerable population. Because 60 percent of Native Americans don’t live on reservations, there are two major categories of challenges that are faced in New Mexico: Providing services to Native Americans on non-reservation and reservation land according to an article that appeared in an electronic edition of the 2006 American Journal of Public Health.

Challenges in urban or non-reservation areas

The first responder to a domestic violence incident is law enforcement, and the response of law enforcement differs depending on the county or city. Most police officers can refer a victim to services and have some training on how to deal with domestic violence situations. Some, but not all, counties have a policy to arrest the perpetrator in a domestic violence call. However, an arrest policy does not guarantee the enforcement of that policy or the efficacy of the law enforcement response.

The attitudes and actions of law enforcement can create a barrier to justice. In some areas, a Native American woman may have to deal with discrimination and a police force that is not always willing to help. In addition, New Mexico police fielded 26,940 IPV-related calls in 2004 alone, which amounts to 74 calls a day. The high volume of incidents may result in “officer fatigue,” creating problems of accountability and reporting according to a 2003 report, “Getting Away with Murder IV: Intimate Partner Violence Deaths 2001-2002.” [www.cvrc.state.nm.us/Documents.html]

This is complicated by the frustration officers may feel as they are called to the same house to respond to the same couple on multiple occasions. Officers become aggravated when their continual efforts to help are not heeded, especially if they don’t understand the dynamics of domestic violence and how difficult it is for a woman to leave. Officers may fail to respond to calls or file reports, and may even harass the victim out of frustration and misunderstanding according to New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers in 2001. [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VBF-4967CCP-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1163426856&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=516b8a767722b6f6634903474bc6a781]

Appropriate services are often not available if a Native American woman decides to leave an abusive relationship. For example, in Albuquerque, where half the Native American population of New Mexico lives, only the Urban Indian Advocacy Program/Morningstar House [www.urbanindianadvocacyprogram.org/] provides culturally appropriate services for Native American women fleeing abusive relationships in the city.

If a perpetrator is arrested, the incident took place on non-tribal land, and the victim decides to press charges, state court will hear the case. A Native American, especially if they are new to the urban area, may find the court process alienating. If the victim or the batterer is not familiar with the court system, they may not understand what is required of them or know of the legal help available in the American justice system. If they are aware, they may not be able to afford appropriate services so they may be at a legal disadvantage according to a 1996 study, “Native Americans, Crime and Justice.” [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst;jsessionid=JKyZG9nygGWydQj2RfXSZdDTGLyJ565lH4Cp3q2Gbs1chJ7CvYTq!1958037805?a=o&d=91858653]

Some women are forced to represent themselves in court because they could not find, or did not know to find, an advocate to help them. In addition, in New Mexico not all judges are required to participate in training on domestic violence. This may result in rulings such as mandated couples counseling that is potentially dangerous for the victim.

Challenges on or near reservations

A major challenge on reservation land involves the identification of domestic violence cases. A medical environment is an important place to screen for IPV; 24 percent of women coming to emergency rooms and 30 percent of those coming with traumatic injuries could be the victim of domestic violence. Screening, an important tool to identify IPV cases, is more likely to happen in a setting where such procedures exist and are mandated.

A 2001 study of IHS clinics in New Mexico found that only 62 percent of clinics had any form of routine domestic violence screening, only 45.5 percent of those screening methods involved a written tool, and 70.4 percent of the facilities had no mandatory staff training. The study could not measure how effectively these screening instruments were used according to the 2001 Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. [www.jabfm.org/] While a majority of the clinics had some procedure for IPV screening, there are many cracks through which a victim can fall.

The issue of jurisdiction on tribal land is confusing and difficult. By an 1885 law, federal officials have jurisdiction over major crimes that happen on tribal land, limiting the abilities of tribal police according to a 2007 report in Amnesty International. [www.amnesty.org/] The complexities of the interplay between tribal, federal and state jurisdiction often means cases are dropped or unreported, and the perpetrator is never brought to justice according to the report.

The geographic isolation of some reservation communities makes it difficult to provide services or for a woman to leave. In addition, the nature of domestic violence often leads to isolation of the victim, which worsens in rural communities such as those seen on reservations according to New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers in 2001.

Phone service is expensive, infrastructure is lacking in rural areas, and transportation is difficult. There are also many extenuating circumstances on reservation land that make it even more difficult to leave. For example, housing on reservation land is limited and difficult to obtain, and sometimes a building houses many people in an extended family. If a woman wishes to leave a relationship but stay close to her community, often there is nowhere for her to go, so she returns to the batterer. These situations conspire to make leaving an abusive situation, and getting appropriate help, difficult for Native American women.

Programs on tribal land provide services for victims and counseling for perpetrators. However, even though many communities are small, program providers find it difficult to let women know of available services. Many programs lack consistent, reliable sources of funding. In addition, programs do not always have support from community and tribal leaders, which creates many barriers to providing care. Program providers find it difficult to perform their duty because of a lack of cooperation between agencies.

The response of tribal police and courts also creates barriers on reservation lands. A victim is unlikely to come forward with an accusation of domestic violence because of the small communities and distrust of the services available. Victims on reservation lands, like those in urban areas, face difficulties in getting a law enforcement agent to respond, file a report, and help the woman. Incarceration is expensive on tribal lands, so police often do not make an arrest. In addition, sentencing by tribal courts is inconsistent and police may even release a perpetrator before his or her sentence is served to save space and money. As these barriers mount against a victim of domestic violence, she often never experiences justice or is able to live violence-free.

In the next issue “Addressing the issue of domestic violence against Native American women.”

Kathryn Tucker is a junior at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., studying international health with a pre-medical concentration. During the summer of 2009, she received the Lisa J. Raines/AAP Undergraduate Research Grant to study causes of and response to domestic violence against Native Americans in New Mexico. This series of four articles on domestic violence is based on research that will be published in Mentis Vitae, a Georgetown undergraduate research journal. Kathryn also created a documentary entitled “Women are Sacred: The Struggle to Stop Domestic Violence Against Native Americans in New Mexico” as part of this project. Kathryn lives in Tijeras, N.M.

Research funded by the Lisa J. Raines/AAP Undergraduate Research Grant
Research approved by the Georgetown University IRB