Amnesty International USA

Research Project about Adult Native American and Alaska Native Women

and Sexual Assault

Request for Testimony

Amnesty International is a worldwide human rights activist movement

with more than 1.8 million members in more than 150 countries and

territories. Amnesty International's vision is of a world in which

every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human

rights standards.

Amnesty International undertakes research and action focused on

preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and

mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom

from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote human

rights. Amnesty International is independent of any government,

political ideology or religious creed. It does not support or

oppose any government or political system. It is concerned solely

with the impartial protection of human rights.

Amnesty is now researching the prevalence of sexual assault against

adult Native American and Alaska Native women as well as what is

being done to address these crimes. We are being assisted in this

project by the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, a Native American

owned and operated non-profit corporation organized to design and

deliver education and research which promote the enhancement of

justice in Indian country and the health, well-being, and culture of

Native peoples.

The goal of the project is to make real changes. At the end of the

project, Amnesty will be publishing a report that will describe

violence against adult Native American and Alaska Native women

across the country. The report will talk about specific examples,

and will let the public know how tribal, state and federal justice

systems respond to sexual assault against adult Native American and

Alaska Native women. The report will include recommendations based

on our conversations with adult Native American and Alaska Native

survivors and service providers. In collaboration, Amnesty

International will be campaigning based on the report's

recommendations to try and effect changes that need to be made.

In order to do our research, it is very important that we hear about

the experiences of Native American survivors and their families. Any

testimony you feel comfortable sharing with us will help us document

the prevalence of sexual assault against adult Native American and

Alaska Native women, and will help us identify patterns and

problems. Complete confidentiality is guaranteed to people who come

forward to tell their stories. We will not include names or

identifying information in any public documents unless you tell us

that it is OK to do so.

If you are interested in participating in our research or have any

questions about it, please contact Bonnie Clairmont of the Tribal

Law and Policy Institute or Carol Pollack of Amnesty International

USA. Bonnie can be reached at: bonnie@tribal-institute.org or call

Bonnie toll free at: 1-888-644-1125. Carol can be reached at:

cpollack@aiusa.org or call Carol toll free at: 1-866-634-6519.

Please contact us by January 31, 2006.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS PROJECT