Justice for Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence

Written by Victoria Ybanez, MPA

As you walk on the shore, you look down and see rocks. Small ones, large ones, tiny, tiny ones. They are there but you never see them arrive. Rocks move, it might not be noticeable but they arrived on that shore just as surely as you move. Their journey is long and steady and eventually, they arrive. While your journey may not seem to be going anywhere, you need to stop and think about the journey of the rocks and consider how your movement might be as sure as the rocks. Slow and steady. Arriving where you are supposed to be.

Victims and Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, are on a long journey as they navigate the web of safety needs, trauma, life changing events, limited resources and multiple systems responders. This story reminds us of the importance to recognize the long journeys Survivors are traveling.

The problem of violence against Native Survivors that leads to the need for crisis and emergency options comes from a history of oppression that is playing out today. Violence against Native American women and men is at significantly higher rates than that of other populations. More than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3 percent) have experienced violence in their lifetime. This includes —56.1 percent who have experienced sexual violence and 55.5 percent who have experienced physical violence by an intimate partner. More than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native men (81.6 percent) have experienced violence in their lifetime. This includes —27.5 percent who have experienced sexual violence and 43.2 percent who have experienced physical violence by an intimate partner. (Andre Rosay, 2016)

As Indigenous Survivors try to move forward, move away from the violence they experienced, letting go of the past stays connected to them, their histories are etched in the ancestral and living memory each person carries. It explains the deep levels of multigenerational trauma and complexity of barriers each person faces every day (Ybanez, 2008).

We all want to have justice for those who have been abused, however, one person’s desire for justice might have a very different meaning to another person.

We often hear people talk about victim autonomy. What is autonomy? Autonomy refers to a person’s right and ability to make their own choices about their life, body, and future. For victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, autonomy is especially significant because abuse often involves the loss or violation of control and personal freedom. Abusers may take away a survivor’s power to make decisions, use manipulation or fear to control their actions, or violate their physical and emotional boundaries (OpenAI, 2026).

A person experiencing violence should always have the ability to make their own decisions about what they want to have happen. It is an empowering practice; and most of all it is they who will live with the outcome. While there are criminal justice avenues that may be available to them, their decision to seek that assistance or remedy, their ability to follow through, the outcomes of those decisions that may bring different outcomes will impact each Survivor based on their own realities.

Each victim will need to have information that fully informs them of their options within the criminal justice system combined with realistic information about what is known about the legal response to inform her of her options and the possible consequences that may accompany those decisions. Each community can have a different level of effectiveness in their criminal justice resources available to victims and that difference is important information a victim will want to know when making decisions. It is not the advocate’s decision, but the Survivor’s decision.

As Indigenous peoples, each of us experiences life that is intertwined with intergenerational trauma. Each Survivor coming to our program brings with them the history of their ancestors, their relatives, those who suffered hardship and those who endured. Our program’s opportunity now, is to heal for the future. Survivors / victims of domestic and sexual violence often talk about how the abuse they experienced is rooted in who they are as Native women, the abuse not only is centered in an individual experience of power and control but an historical experience that layers upon them a challenge to not only heal and recover from the violence of this immediate situation but a deeper effort to heal and return to balance for themselves but also for our daughters and our granddaughters.

The healing and balance we offer this one person, we offer to our future.

Crisis programs, emergency shelter, and transitional housing programs will offer Native survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking a response that honors all our relationships, is holistic, demonstrates respect for them, and has integrity (Mending the Sacred Hoop, 2002).

Works Cited

Andre Rosay, P. (2016). Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men 2010 Findings From the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.

Mending the Sacred Hoop. (2002). Community-based Analysis of the U.S. Legal System's Interventions in Domestic Abuse Cases Invovling Indigenous Women. Duluth: National Institute of Justice.

OpenAI. (2026). (2026). ChatGPT 5 Intelligent chat model. https://use.ai/chat

Wallace, D., Calhoun, A. D., Powell, K. E., O'Neil, J., & James, S. P. (1996). Homicide and Suicide Among Native Americans, 1979-1992. Violence Surveillance Summary Series, No. 2. Atlanta, Georgia: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Ybanez, V. (2008). Indigenous Women and the Legacy of Oppression. In M. Moore, Birthed from Scorched Hearts: Women Respond to War (pp. 210-217). Boulder, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing.