Washington OKs 1st statewide missing Indigenous people alert

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By GILLIAN FLACCUS

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday signed into law a bill that creates a first-in-the-nation statewide alert system for missing Indigenous people.

The law creates a system similar to Amber Alerts and so-called silver alerts, which are used respectively for missing children and vulnerable adults in many states.

The system will notify law enforcement when there’s a report of a missing Indigenous person. It will also place messages on highway reader boards and on the radio and social media, and will provide information to the news media.

The law attempts to address a crisis of missing Indigenous people — particularly women — in Washington and across the United States. While it includes missing men, women and children, a summary of public testimony on the legislation notes that “the crisis began as a women’s issue, and it remains primarily a women’s issue.”



FILE - Dennis Willard, of Bellevue, Wash., carries a sign that reads "Where Is She" as he marches in support of missing and murdered indigenous women during a rally to mark Indigenous Peoples' Day in downtown Seattle, on Oct. 14, 2019. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has signed into law a bill that creates a first-in-the-nation statewide alert system for missing Indigenous people. The law creates a system similar to Amber Alerts and so-called silver alerts, which are used respectively for missing children and vulnerable adults in many states. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/united-states-washington-jay-inslee-4ecb8e8b8dd600861307b0a176d0dfee

[Faux pas]

1. Kickin'

[niyad]

2. KNR

[Ron Obvious]

3. Why a separate database for indigenous women?

I don't doubt they have special issues, but I shouldn't think creating a separate alert system would be the answer.

[chowder66]

5. From the article...

This piece of the crisis is important because in many cases, murdered Indigenous women are mistakenly recorded as white or Hispanic by coroners’ offices, they’re never identified, or their remains never repatriated.

A 2021 report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found the true number of missing and murdered Indigenous women in the U.S. is unknown due to reporting problems, distrust of law enforcement and jurisdictional conflicts. But Native American women face murder rates almost three times those of white women overall — and up to 10 times the national average in certain locations, according to a 2021 summary of the existing research by the National Congress of American Indians. More than 80% have experienced violence.

In Washington, more than four times as many Indigenous women go missing than white women, according to research conducted by the Urban Indian Health Institute in Seattle, but many such cases receive little or no media attention.

[Ron Obvious]

6. I still don't see why a separate alert system is the answer. n/t

[caraher]

8. Because the media does a better job covering disappearance of non-indigenous women

From the previous reply:

In Washington, more than four times as many Indigenous women go missing than white women, according to research conducted by the Urban Indian Health Institute in Seattle, but many such cases receive little or no media attention.

[summer_in_TX]

4. The disappearances of indigenous women and men

are very often ignored by law enforcement and the public.

The state of Washington is on the leading edge here in trying to ensure that crimes against native Americans (First Nations peoples) are not ignored.

I hope other states will work to create a similar system.

A few years ago my husband and I attended a couple of the UN panels on the status of women. One panel was eye-opening. Indigenous women panelists, some of whom had overcome rape and or the murder of family members to earn masters degrees, told the stories and provided statistics of what they and their communities had endured. The endemic disrespect because of their race and status and the impunity. Murders, assaults, and rapes that were never investigated.

This is why current laws are NOT enough to ensure equal treatment for disappearances of indigenous people.

[Haggis 4 Breakfast]

7. Jay Inslee is following Canada's lead on this.

The number of missing and murdered women and girls in Canada is staggering. A bigger blot on the RCMP you will not find.

The problem has been around for decades and little notice has been given to the huge number of women involved. Canada Route 16, the notorious "Highway of Tears," which stretches 450 miles between Prince George to Prince Rupert in British Columbia has been the site of hundreds of missing women. Due to low ownership of cars, hitch hiking is a popular means of travel here, whether it is for jobs, to see family or to seek medical treatment. Loss of major bus routes a few years ago magnified the problem.

Hopefully, more states will follow Inslee's lead on this.