In D.C., Tulalip Tribes laud revised Violence Against Women Act
TULALIP — For years, Tulalip leaders fought to affirm tribes’ ability to protect native people from non-native violent offenders.
On Wednesday, Tulalip Chairwoman Teri Gobin sat alongside survivors and advocates in Washington, D.C., as President Joe Biden touted the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
VAWA was first enacted in 1994, with the aim of protecting survivors of domestic violence. It requires renewal every five years. The latest version grants tribes the power to arrest, prosecute and sentence all perpetrators of sexual and domestic violence; sex trafficking; stalking; child violence; and obstruction of justice on tribal lands.
“Non-Indians will now know, or soon learn, there’s consequences for certain crimes committed against our tribal members,” said Lisa Koop, senior attorney and federal advocate for the Tulalip Tribes, who was also in the U.S. capital on Wednesday. “Versus the current belief that ‘I’m on the reservation and nobody is going to do anything out here.’”
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/in-d-c-tulalip-tribes-laud-revised-violence-against-women-act/
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