Rape rates of American Indians in Robeson and surrounding counties

UNCP Author/Contributor (non-UNCP co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Dana Reijerkerk (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP )
Web Site: http://www.uncp.edu/academics/library
Advisor
Mary Ann Jacobs

Abstract: American Indians experience rape at a disproportionately high rate compared to their representation within the United States population. Despite federal, state, and tribal interventions to combat sexual violence in Indigenous communities’ rape rates are still high. Underreporting of rape in Indigenous communities can be accounted for by patriarchal ideals that negatively influence the treatment and responses to rape. Victim-blaming attitudes and behaviors permeate criminal justice systems’ and Rape Crisis Centers’ interactions with Native rape victims and encourage and account for the underreporting of the crime. State-recognized tribes are particularly affected because of their lack of status and national focus. The Lumbee Tribe of Robeson County is the largest state-recognized tribe in North Carolina and must rely on North Carolina’s legislation, police forces, and Rape Crisis Centers to provide justice and advocacy for their communities’ rape victims. The Lumbee’s tribal-based Rape Crisis Center, Enlightening Native Daughters was created to provide culturally competent services to better assist their communities’; however, it fails to adequately address rape because of its emphasis on educating women and not cultural revitalization. In order to see permanent changes in rape rates of Indigenous people a paradigm shift in popular thinking needs to occur in which matriarchal gender roles and gender typing of masculinity and femininity are taught.

Additional Information

Publication
Honors Project
Esther G. Maynor Honors College
Language: English
Date: 2016
Keywords
American Indians, Native Amercians, rape rates, Lumbee Indians, rape crisis center, criminal justice, matriarchal gender roles

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