One topic we have recently read about that really stood out to me was found in Sexual Violence as a Tool for Genocide. Before reading the article, I assumed that rape of Native American women occurred in colonial times, but I had no idea to what extent. I also had no idea how common it still was in today's society, especially in the instance of white men raping Native American women. Not only is it extremely prevalent on Native American reservations, but the white man has a found a loop hole to avoid being punished for this disgusting act. According to law, the council on a reservation cannot punish someone for committing a crime unless the said perpetrator commits the crime on the land of the reservation (Smith). Rapes done by Native American men to Native American women often go unpunished, as well, although they are not as common as rape by white men. According to an article I read on the website for the National Public Radio, there aren't enough police to investigate sexual assaults, so few of the cases are prosecuted.To me, that is just ridiculous. How are these women supposed to get any type of justice if there is no legal way to seek it out? It just seems really unfair to me that after centuries of putting down Native American people and taking their land, we still have not found a way to make them equal to whites.
Because this topic really interested me, I looked up some articles online about the subject and several different instances of Native American rape. I have listed them below.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12203114
http://alabamacivilrights.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/native-american-sexual-assault-amendments-to-the-violence-against-womens-act/
This is how I felt about the Border Rapes. These types of actions are so terrible, and i find it disgusting that they often go unpunished. It makes me so sad, and very ashamed of the society that we live in.
Thanks for sharing the other articles on the topic