Module 6
Considerations for Advocacy on Behalf of Victims from Vulnerable Populations

Barriers to Native American/Alaskan Native Victims Navigating the Criminal Justice System

The Native American/Alaskan Native population faces perhaps the harshest barriers to navigating the criminal justice system.

  • Tribal law enforcement agencies often lack sufficient resources and the specific training to quickly and appropriately respond to sexual violence. Some tribal law enforcement is responsible for patrolling large geographic areas increasing response time tremendously.
  • There is often a lack of access to healthcare services on tribal lands, with access to trained SANEs for medical forensic sexual assault examiners even less often available. Telemedicine has attempted to fill this gap for tribal and rural lands so victims in these areas have greater access to trained examiners (discussed in Module 5).
  • As discussed in Module 2, jurisdiction over crimes perpetrated on tribal lands is quite complex. Confusion around which prosecutorial agency should prosecute a particular case may cause delay.

 

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