Across the United States, over 5,700 indigenous women were reported missing in 2016 alone, with only 116 of those cases logged into the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) missing persons database. This statistic is the tip of the iceberg of the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis.
But while seven states have taken steps to pass legislation to improve reporting mechanisms and data collection, and increase inter-agency collaboration, any such MMIW legislation has not passed on a federal level.
Read more here and sign the petition, please.
Living in a city with a large Native American population and being so close to not one but two reservations has exposed me to the reality our Indigenous individuals face and I believe that change needs to happen. I will continue to fight for Indigenous peoples and I will do anything in my power to amplify their voices.
These women were mothers, sisters, friends, grandmothers, and many more. Beyond that however, they were people. Their stories need to be told, tolerating this silent genocide will no longer be okay. No more MMIW.