STATEMENT OF ZAYNAB NAWAZ

Good afternoon. My name is Zaynab Nawaz and I am a campaigner at Amnesty International, here today representing more than 400,000 members in the United States, and more than 2 million across the world. I want to thank Senators Dorgan and Murkowski; Senators Johnson, Domenici and Thune, for your leadership in working for safety and justice in tribal communities. We at Amnesty International were appalled when we learned that more than one in three Native American and Alaska Native women will be raped in their lifetimes. And we found it shocking that they are more than two and one-half times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in general in the United States. In researching our 2007 report, Maze of Injustice, we found not only that these crimes are incredibly horrific and widespread, but that all too often,... [read full story]