They include provisions that allow tribal courts to investigate and prosecute non-native perpetrators of violence against Native women on reservations.
While this provision will help to hold non-Native perpetrators accountable, there is still much work to be done when it comes to providing access to healing and justice for Native survivors.
However, tribes still have no jurisdiction over non-natives who are perpetrators of sexual violence.
"When you see these amendments that give more rights to perpetrators than Native women, you start to wonder where the balance is," she said.
One government-financed study noted that almost a quarter of convicted pedophiles, rapists and perpetrators of incest are Native Canadians, who make up about 3percentt of the population.
According to the US Department of Justice, in at least 86% of the reported cases of rape or sexual assault against American Indian and Alaska Native women, survivors report that the perpetrators are non-Indian men.
N. Bruce Duthu rightly points to the need to restore tribal authority over cases of rape and sexual assault committed against Native American and Alaska Native women and to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
These injustices were paired with rampant sexual abuse against Native children, with no real accountability for perpetrators of this violence.
The problem is that over 80% of the perpetrators of rapes on reservations are non-Native.
One in three Native women will report being raped in her lifetime, and 86% of the perpetrators are non-Native men, most of whom have good cause to expect they'll get away with it.
In the US, data indicates that Native American and Alaskan Native women are 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than non-Native women, with 86% of the perpetrators being non-Native.
