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According to the United States Department of Justice, a staggering 34% of all Native American2 women have reported being sexually assaulted.3 Native American women are nearly three times more likely to be sexually assaulted than women of any other ethnic group in the United States.4 Despite these statistics, sexual assault against Native American women is an epidemic largely ignored by the federal government.

This document introduces the fourteenth annual Trafficking in Persons Report (see links below). The report seeks to increase global awareness of the human trafficking phenomenon by shedding new light on various facets of the problem and highlighting shared and individual perspectives of the international community.

This years Trafficking in Persons Report offers a roadmap for the road ahead as we confront the scourge of trafficking." -- John F. Kerry, Secretary of State

Amnesty Internationals publication, ÐReport of TortureÓ, includes Bidermans Chart of Coercion which describes techniques used to torture and brainwash prisoners of war: isolation, monopolization of perception, induced debility and exhaustion, threats, occasional indulgences, demonstrating omnipotence, degradation, and enforcing trivial demands. These are some of the same tactics batterers utilize to maintain control over their partners. They are also tactics used in the colonization of Native People.

American Indian women residing on Indian reservations suffer domestic violence and physical assault at rates far exceeding women of other ethnicities and locations.

Tribal governments across the United States are creating programs to improve response to violent crime. As sovereign governments, tribes can assert jurisdiction in criminal and civil actions involving assaults against Native women.