Say Their Names

The women raising the volume in the fight against Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women

It’s being called an epidemic of violence. Native American Women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than the rest of the nation’s population. Some are killed. Some vanish. Some return to their reservations shell shocked, unable to talk about the abuse they endured after being sex trafficked. Four out of five criminal MMIW cases go unsolved.

THE FACTS

Native Americans make up 26 percent of the missing in Montana but only 6.7 percent of the state’s population. Source: Centers for Disease Control

84 percent of native women experience physical, sexual or emotional violence in their lives. 34 percent experienced violence in the last year. Source: National Institute of Justice

Murder is the third-leading cause of death among Native American Women. Source: Department of Justice

 

Yellowstone Valley Woman magazine looked into this epidemic, turning the issue and looking at it from a variety of angles. These are our stories.

The Family: Chery Horn

The Podcaster: Nicole O'Shea

The Task Force: The Government Efforts

The Activist: Annita Lucchesi

 

More from YVW