A resolution designating May 5 as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women, has passed the U.S. Senate.
The action was applauded by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who said she has personally heard so many stories of women being dismissed or not taken seriously because they are Native American. It tears at my heart to know that a woman’s story, or a family’s story, would be discounted because she is a Native American woman. We have to change that.
“ …When women are murdered or abducted, when women are trafficked, when individuals are left as missing, discarded, or discounted, there is an injustice being done, and we cannot let that continue,” Murkowski said. “By raising awareness of this epidemic with this resolution, by giving these women their faces, names, and by telling their stories, we are shining a light on the problem and giving hope.”
In April, Murkowski and Sen. Cortez Masto, D-NV, introduced the Not Invisible Act, legislation aimed at addressing the crisis of missing, murdered and trafficked Native people by engaging law enforcement, tribal leaders, federal partners, and service providers and improving coordination across federal agencies.
Separately in January, Murkowski and Masto reintroduced the Savanna’s Act, a bill to combat the epidemic of murdered and missing Native women and girls by improving the federal government’s response to addressing the crisis.
