Proponent Testimony before the Senate Committee on Judiciary
In support of
HB2008 - Providing for the attorney general to coordinate training for law enforcement agencies on missing and murdered indigenous people.
by Kristin Salmans, President of League of Women Voters – Lawrence Douglas County
February 11, 2021
Madam Chair, Members of the Committee:
The League of Women Voters – Lawrence Douglas County (LWV-LDC) is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government. We influence public policy through education and advocacy. We recognize the evidence of a growing tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women and children in the United States, and endeavor to promote violence prevention surrounding this issue.
LWV-LDC supports the passage of HB2008. Since 1994, the League of Women Voters of the United States has included violence prevention in our Statements of Positions.1 Our position on violence prevention includes specific action items that the League of Women Voters supports. They are, “Public and private development and coordination of programs that emphasize the primary prevention of violence; The active role of government and social institutions in preventing violent behavior; and The allocation of public monies in government programs to prevent violence.”1 HB2008 would empower the Kansas Attorney General to collaborate with other state and tribal agencies to provide training aimed at reducing violence against Indigenous people, and could especially aid in the reduction of violence toward and exploitation of Indigenous women and girls.
The National Crime Information Center reports that, in 2016, there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, though the US Department of Justice’s federal missing persons database, NamUs, only logged 116 cases. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that murder is the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women and that rates of violence on reservations can be up to ten times higher than the national average. However, no research has been done on rates of such violence among American Indian and Alaska Native women living in urban areas despite the fact that approximately 71% of American Indian and Alaska Natives live in urban areas.2 According to a statement by the Department of Interior, “These data gaps impact how law enforcement officials handle or follow up on cases. Underreporting, racial misclassification, potential gender or racial bias, and a lack of law enforcement resources required to follow through and close out cases appropriately, are just some of the challenges faced when working on MMIP cases.”3
We urge you to vote YES on HB2008 empowering Kansas to establish training practices and policies to help reduce violence against Indigenous people.
Notes:
1. League of Women Voters of the United States, Impact on Issues 2020-2022 A GUIDE TO PUBLIC POLICY POSITIONS, pages 143-144. Washington, DC. (2020). https://www.lwv.org/sites/default/files/2020-12/LWV-impact-2020.pdf
2. Urban Indian Health Institute, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: A snapshot of data from 71 cities in the United States, page 2. Seattle, Washington. (2018)
https://www.uihi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Missing-and-Murdered-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls-Report.pdf
3. United States Department of the Interior, Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs
Statement of Charles Addington Deputy Bureau Director - Office of Justice Services Bureau of Indian Affairs United States Department of the Interior Before the House Committee On Natural Resources Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States Oversight Hearing “Reviewing the Trump Administration’s Approach to the MMIW Crisis”. Washington, DC. (2019)
https://www.doi.gov/ocl/mmiw-crisis