U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

National Institute of Justice

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE

FIVE THINGS

ABOUT VIOLENCE AGAINST AMERICAN INDIAN AND 

ALASKA NATIVE WOMEN AND MEN

1. Most American Indian and Alaska

Native adults are victims of violence.

More than four in five American Indian and Alaska 

Native adults (83 percent) have experienced some 

form of violence in their lifetime. That’s almost 

3 million people who have experienced psychological 

aggression or physical violence by intimate partners, 

stalking, or sexual violence. 

2. Men and women are victimized at

similar rates but in different ways. 

American Indian and Alaska Native women and men 

have been victimized at similar rates (84.3 percent 

for women and 81.6 percent for men). They have 

experienced similar levels of psychological 

aggression and physical violence by intimate 

partners. But women have experienced significantly 

higher levels of sexual violence (56.1 percent versus 

27.5 percent for men) and stalking (48.8 percent versus 

18.6 percent for men).

Percentages of American Indian and 

Alaska Native women and men who have 

experienced violence in their lifetime

84.3

T

Women

84.3%

(more than 

1.5 million) 81.6

T

Men

81.6%

(more than 

1.4 million)

3. Victimization rates are higher for

American Indians and Alaska Natives. 

The lifetime victimization rate is 1.2 times as high for 

American Indian and Alaska Native women as for 

White women; for men, it is 1.3 times as high.

Types of Victimization

Psychological 

Aggression by an 

Intimate Partner

Physical Violence 

by an 

Intimate Partner

Sexual 

Violence

Stalking

Women Men

66.4%

55.5%

56.1%

48.8%

73.0%

43.2%

 27.5%

 18.6%
4. American Indian and Alaska Native female victims are

more likely to need services, but they are less likely to 

have access to those services.

More than two in five American Indian and Alaska Native female victims 

reported being physically injured, and almost half reported needing 

services. The services most commonly needed were medical care and 

legal services. Unfortunately, more than a third (38 percent) were unable 

to receive necessary services.

Research continues to highlight the disparities in health outcomes and 

access to health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives. These 

results highlight the need for additional services for American Indian and

Alaska Native victims of crime — a need that was also documented in the 

Office for Victims of Crime’s Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services — Final Report.

5. For American Indians and Alaska Natives, interracial

violence is more prevalent than intraracial violence.

Although the exact number of victimizations per person is unknown, it 

is clear that most American Indian and Alaska Native victims have 

experienced at least one act of violence committed by an interracial 

perpetrator (97 percent of women and 90 percent of men). Fewer victims 

(35 percent of women and 33 percent of men) have experienced one or 

more acts of violence by an American Indian or Alaska Native perpetrator. 

This finding offers strong support for the sovereign right of federally 

recognized tribes to criminally prosecute non-Indian perpetrators. Until 

recently, federally recognized tribes did not have this authority, even for 

crimes committed on tribal lands. This gap in jurisdictional authority 

provided immunity to non-Indian perpetrators and compromised

the safety of tribal communities. The Violence Against Women

Reauthorization Act of 2013 partially corrected this problem by 

providing special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction to federally

recognized tribes. But more progress can be made to provide justice for 

American Indian and Alaska Native victims. 

Percentages of victims 

experiencing violence by 

non-Indian perpetrators

20

40

60

80

100

Women,

97% Men, 

90%

Percentages of victims 

experiencing violence 

by American Indian or 

Alaska Native perpetrators

20

40

60

80

100

Women,

35% Men, 

33%

Learn more 

Rosay, André B., Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men: 2010 Findings from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual 

Violence Survey. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 2016, NCJ 249736. 

NIJ.gov’s Tribal Crime and Justice page

Keywords: NIJ tribal

Findings and conclusions of the research reported here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official 

position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

NCJ 249815

May 2016

Photo Sources: Thinkstock, Hamilton Studios for We R Native, Fotosearch, Illustration by Sam English

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