Joe Biden: Domestic violence, sexual abuse ‘an epidemic’ on Native American lands

Vice President Joseph R. Biden pledged Wednesday that the federal government will continue working to protect Native American women from rape, abuse and domestic violence.

Speaking at the annual Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, Mr. Biden said great strides have been made since the Violence Against Women Act was signed into law in 1994, including last year’s reauthorization that extended new protections to women on tribal lands.

But the vice president said much more must be done, pointing to troubling statistics such as one in three Native American women reporting they have been raped.

“It’s an epidemic … an epidemic that cuts to the very core of how we measure ourselves as a society,” Mr. Biden said. “It’s on all of us to change the culture — a culture that asks the wrong questions. It’s never the right question for a woman to ask, ’What did I do?’ It’s never appropriate. The question should be, ’Why was it done to me and will someone do something about it?’”

Last year’s reauthorization put in place new provisions allowing tribal governments to investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence or sexual abuse perpetrated by non-Native American men against Native American women.