Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL 1

Research Proposal

Sexual Assault on Indian Reservations

Selena Gonzalez

Loyola University
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Chapter I: Introduction

When it comes to media and news sources, we often do not hear about sexual assaults that take

place on Indian Reservations. According to Staurt (2017), “Native women have the highest rate

of domestic violence and sexual assault, national average is one in five, ours [Native women] is

one in three”. After reading some sources and watching some videos, some Native women end

up being murdered as well. The purpose of this study is discovering why the rate for sexual

assault in regard to Native women is so high. Why do sexual assault cases on Indian

Reservations go unprosecuted? And are is there a correlation between these cases going

unprosecuted and the amount of reports on sexual assault that are processed by Native Women.

The method being used will be Qualitative with a phenomenological approach, allowing for

more of a one on one, personal approach. I expect this study to show just how important it is to

recognize that sexual assault is happening to Native women, both young and old. A better

approach needs to be taken to discover just how often this is happening, how many of these

sexual assault cases go unreported, and what can be done to change the high rates of sexual

assault. Possible limitations of this study may include not having enough Native women wanting

to speak up or fearing to, having limitation with Native Legislation, and not having enough

scholarly data due to non- reporting.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Through the process of conducting research it became apparent that there were certain themes in

what exactly was related to the low number of reports or cases of sexual assault cases on Indian

Reservations. These included; Lack of resources to Native women (sex education,

contraceptives, STD medication, etc.), conflict with Native law/culture and U.S. Law, and high

numbers of non- reporting.

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Lack of Resources for Native Women

On Indian Reservations, due to the high rates of sexual assault, women and young girls are more

susceptible to STDs and pregnancy. According to Arnold (2014), “Nearly half (46%) of Native

American Women are younger than 20 years old when they give birth to their first child” (p.1).

Arnold (2014) goes on to explain that because of the high rates of sexual assault and there being

barely any prosecution of perpetrators on reservations, health centers need to be providing

resources to Native women. According to the Washington Post (2014), health centers struggle to

really advocate and help Native women. There is a lot of conflict when it comes to legislation,

making it hard for advocates to really know what to do. This comes to really affect how they can

make victims feel safer both on and off of the reservations. This essentially leads into what more

can be done in terms of the law.

Conflict with Native Law/Culture and U.S. Law

There are a lot of aspects that factor in to why perpetrators are hard to catch, making it hard to

break the cycle of violence. Most of the violence that occurs on reservations is something that

starts at childhood and transcends into adulthood. With this happening at such a young age, the

question is if these native children and adults are receiving the support that they need. When it

comes to prosecuting crimes on Indian reservations, because of the different legislations, crimes

committed by non- natives are difficult to follow up on. According to CNN, this makes Native

women a target for White men. With there being a lack of prosecution, this could possibly lead

to Native women not reporting assaults. When crimes occur on reservations, prosecution is an

even longer process than one on under United States legislation. According to The Washington

Post (2014), non- native people were immune to prosecution on tribal land. This is crucial

because also according to them, vast majority of assaults against native women are committed by
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non- native men. Another crucial part is that federal attorneys are the only ones that can try non-

natives who commit crimes on native lands but often choose not to. When the crimes occur,

jurisdiction has to be determined and most often they are committed on native jurisdictions.

When it comes to jurisdiction on Indian Reservations and prosecuting Natives, the system is still

flawed. Most often the Natives that commit these crimes can be banned from the reservation,

causing them to move out of it and not be charged with anything. According to Smith (2010):

The dilemma we face is that incarceration as a response to sexual/domestic violence

promotes the repression of communities of color without providing genuine safety for

survivors. Restorative justice models often promote community silence and denial around

issues of sexual/violence. Concern for the safety of survivors of gender violence

disappears under the rhetoric of community restoration. (p. 41)

This goes to show how measures are not handled properly on or off the reservation when it

comes to sexual assault. According to Deer (2004), “Native people, already vulnerable to

criminal victimization, may choose to go without necessary healthcare rather than risk being

victimized by a federal employee” (p. 24). This shows partly why women are fearful to no report

in how that leads in to there not being much a reservation can do when it comes to sexual assault.

It also leads into the theme of non- reporting.

High Numbers of Non- Reporting

Non- reporting is a huge issue all around for women, but for Native women specifically it carries

much more weight behind it. Like mentioned above, non- reporting is an issue because it can go

onto to affect the prosecution of perpetrators. The native culture itself considers women to be

very sacred, but also holds men to a very high and powerful regard. Women often to do not

report out of fear of the men or the community knowing. According to Deer (2004), “Native
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victims of violent crime are sometimes caught in a dilemma of reporting a fellow tribal member

to a system that imposes harsh, non- rehabilitative punishments, or having no response to the

crime at all” (p. 24). This goes to show that there is fear in Native women of their perpetrators

knowing they tried to report and then there be nothing occurring afterwards. As mentioned

before many factors play into the atmosphere of sexual assault on Native American Reservations.

A lot of it has to do with cultural or historical background, that has now been ingrained into what

reservations are now. This could be part of the reason why women do not report. Culture and

history is so embedded into the belief system making women feel guilty when it comes to

reporting. According to Goldman et al. (2006), “Specifically to research with Native Americans,

it is also necessary to identify culturally relevant risk factors. High rates of victimizations may be

associated with oppressive traumatic events and practices that contributed to losses of cultural

affiliation” (p.1570). There was not much scholarly research on the reasoning for non- reporting,

but I hope it can be something that is investigated more through my qualitative study.

Chapter III: Method

The methods used for this research are listed below

Study Design/Methodology

Qualitative research will be used to construct the data. The design that I will be using will be a

phenomenological approach. This will allow me to interview, read my documents/articles I have

found, watch any videos that may pertain to my study, and visit places that are important to the

research. This is relevant to my research because most of what I am looking into is unreported

which means that a lot of my research will rely on both personal interaction and finding things

online.

Unit of Study/Participants
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My sample will be a focus group of women that have been victims of sexual assault. The pool

will consist of women that have taken their cases to legal stances but have had no positive

results. The women for this focus group will be recruited by asking for participation. I will affirm

with them that it will be confidential in the sense that their names will not be known and it will

be used for the benefits of the research question at hand. I will be using a purposeful sampling.

This strategy is relevant to my study because there are set- criteria that I need in order for it to

pertain to my research. The women will need to be victims of sexual assault or victims of a

sexual assault case that ended negatively or did not carry through. The characteristic that is most

important as that they be Native women from the reservation communities.

Data Collection Tools/Instruments

The data I will be using from study is transcribed interviews and focus groups. I will be using a

preliminary quiz to determine participants, a facilitation guide for the focus group, and an exit

survey through survey monkey that will be specific to each Native woman’s experience. I made

sure the questionnaire and survey were prefaced with a trigger warning. The facilitation guide is

also created by me and I will be using a tape recorder to record the session. I personally created

the surveys using Microsoft Word for the preliminary questionnaire and survey monkey for the

exit survey. The reliability of my instrument for the preliminary quiz is good because it will only

be used to determine the participation in the study. Questions one and four need to be answered

“yes”, to participate. The reliability of my instrument for the exit survey is good because survey

monkey will be used. This allows for anonymous participation, for easier compilations of the

data, and I can export it for my use. I will also be using tablets borrowed from Loyola University

to have the participants complete the exit survey. I can confirm validity by explaining that the

information taken from focus group, surveys, and questionnaires will only be used for the
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purpose of the study and will be anonymous. The focus groups will be using pseudonyms for

protection of their identities.

Procedure

I will ask employees of health center on an Indian Reservations (if they have one) to hand out

information about the study and the preliminary questions. If allowed I will also go to any

women groups or gatherings where I can recruit. I will rely on the snowball effect as well to gat

other women on board. From there, the preliminary survey should help me determine who can be

in the study. I will be choosing 8-10 participants. I will gather the participants for the focus

group, letting them know pseudonyms will be used when recording data. The focus groups will

be using pseudonyms to protect the identity of the participants. The focus group will be

anywhere from and hour to an hour and a half. From there, before the participants leave, they

will complete an exit survey on the tablets. Possible threats to validity will be descriptive validity

an interpretation validity.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Demographic data such as reservation location, age, and pseudonym will be recorded for each

participant. SPSS will be used to do cross correlations between certain questions and determine

frequencies and percentages to better back up the hypothesis.

Conclusion

Personally, I would definitely conduct a research like this. I think it would be extremely difficult

because as I was already doing research there are many gaps in what I found. It was really

challenging because not many articles are written and not much research is done on this matter. I

struggled to even expand on the themes I did find and hope that if this research is ever really

done, it can be added to the small amount that exists. In the process of writing this and doing
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research, I learned that these stories are very important. These stories are personal and powerful,

and even though this is research, there has to be a lot of respect for that.
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References

Arnold, S. B. (2014). Reproductive rights denied: the Hyde Amendment and access to abortion

for Native American women using Indian health service facilities. American Journal of

Public Health, 104(10), 1892- 1893.

Brooks, A., Crossland, C., Palmer, J. (2013). NIJ’s program of research on violence against

American Indian and Alaska Native women. Violence Against Women, 19(6), 771- 790.

Bubar, R. (2010). Cultural competence, justice, and supervision: sexual assault against Native

women. Women & Therapy, 33(1/2), 55.

Bubar, R., Thurman, P. J. (2004). Violence against Native women. Social Justice, 31(4), 70-84.

CNN (producer). (2013, October 21st). Sex abuse rampant on Indian reservation. [Video file].

Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2013/10/21/erin-dnt-rowlands-native-

american-women-rape.cnn

Deer, S. (2004). Federal Indian law and violent crime: Native women and children at the mercy

of the state. Social Justice, 31(4), 17- 30.

Deer, S., Farley, M., Golding, J. M., Hudon, E., Lopez, G., Mathews, N., Stark, C. (2016). The

prostitution and trafficking of American Indian/Alaska Native women in Minnesota.

American Indian & Alaska Native Mental Health Research: The Journal of the National

Center, 23(1), 65- 104.

DeHeer, B., Jones, L. (2017). Measuring sexual violence on campus: climate surveys and

vulnerable groups. Journal of School Violence, 16(2), 207- 221.

Goldman, D., Koss, M. P., Polacca, M., Yuan, N.P. (2006). Risk factors for physical assault and

rape among six native American tribes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21(12), 1566-

1590.
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Jones, L. (2008). The distinctive characteristics and needs of domestic violence victims in a

Native American community. Journal of Family Violence, 23(2), 113- 118.

Smith, A. (2010). Decolonizing anti- rape law and strategizing accountability in Native

American communities. Social Justice, 37(4), 36-43.

Staurt, A. (Producer). (2017, February 22nd). Violence against Native American women is

rampant on some reservations. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.circa.com/story/2017/02/22/nation/violence-against-native-american-

women-is-rampant-on-some-reservations

Washington Post (Producer). (2014, Februaruy 8th). They come here to hunt: surviving sexual

violence on the reservation. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TzguMqHkFU
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Appendix

Pre- Participant Questionnaire

1.) Are you a survivor of sexual assault?

2.) Did sexual assault take place on the reservation?

3.) Did any sexual assault take place off of the reservation?

4.) Did you take your assault to legal matters?

5.) What were the results of this case?

Focus group Facilitation Guide

We will be discussing topics involving experiences with sexual assault/sexual violence. Feel free

to walk out of the room if need be or to pass on something you do not feel like discussing.

Pseudonyms will be using to protect your identity, so we will establish those before we begin to

interview. I will be recording the session but it will only be used for the purpose of my research.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

• State your pseudonym and age

• What experiences do you have with sexual assault on the reservation?

• Did you report your case and if so what did the legal process look like?

• In your opinion, why do you think the system on reservations is the way it is?

• What would you like to see change?

Exit Survey- Survey Monkey

1.) Pseudonym:

a. _______

2.) Age?

a. ______
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3.) Have you experience sexual assault on your reservation?

a. Yes

b. No

4.) How many instances occurred?

a. _____

5.) How old were you during the (these) instances?

a. _______

6.) Did the perpetrator get prosecuted?

a. Yes

b. No

7.) If you did not report, what was your reasoning?

a. _________