PSAs highlight domestic violence awareness
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News from the Administration for Children and Families
WASHINGTON, D.C. — To help mitigate the disproportionate level of violence experienced by Native Americans, three HHS agencies developed a public service announcement campaign on domestic violence awareness.
The Administration for Native Americans – which is part of HHS’s Administration for Children and Families – partnered with HHS’ Indian Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with new public service announcements tailored specifically for Native communities for the purposes of providing survivors access to resources, improving bystanders’ ability to safely intervene and increasing prevention efforts on both the individual and community level.
More than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native men and women (83%) have experienced a form of violence in their lifetime – whether it be physical violence and/or psychological aggression from an intimate partner, sexual violence, or stalking – according to the National Institute of Justice. In addition, more than 1.5 million American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime per a NIJ-funded study.
This trend is not new. Indigenous peoples have faced violence and the tragedy of a missing or murdered loved one for generations tracing back to the first instances of physical and cultural violence committed against them from the start of colonialization. The negative impact of that trauma continues to affect Indigenous communities across the U.S. today.
“Native Americans have disproportionately suffered from many forms of violence,” said Hope MacDonald Lone Tree, the deputy commissioner at the Administration for Native Americans. “These public service announcements are crucial for creating awareness of resources for Indigenous peoples who are survivors of violence, and will help to protect and heal Indigenous peoples and their communities.”
President Biden’s Executive Order on Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People, published Nov. 15, 2021, acknowledges that “Native Americans face unacceptably high levels of violence, and are victims of violent crime at a rate much higher than the national average.” The president specifically highlights that Native American women are disproportionately the victims of sexual and gender-based violence, including intimate partner homicide, and that approximately half of Native American women have experienced physical violence by an intimate partner.
To tackle the crisis of ongoing violence against Native Americans and the root causes of MMIP, the new campaign includes six PSAs, addressing: warning signs and prevention skills; seeking services for survivors (youth-focused); seeking services for survivors (male-focused); seeking services for survivors (female-focused); supporting survivors and responding to domestic violence; and increasing community safety.
PSA listeners are being directed to resources to help inform and strengthen domestic violence intervention and prevention efforts at the individual and community levels. These include ACF’s Family and Youth Services Bureau’s Domestic Violence Resource Network, CDC’s Intimate Partner Violence resource page, and the StrongHearts Native Helpline (1-844-762-8483), a safe, confidential and anonymous domestic violence helpline that offers culturally appropriate support and advocacy for Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
These PSAs have recently been distributed via the GoodHealthTV® Network, displayed in 440 health care facilities, community centers, schools, and tribal administration buildings serving Native Americans across the U.S., as well as on radio stations that service the Pine Ridge, Salish, Osage, Navajo and Nez Perce reservations. In addition, the PSAs are available on ANA’s website and are posted on the Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered Native Americans – Operation Lady Justice website for future dissemination. These PSAs are a culmination of a federal interagency effort to support domestic violence prevention efforts and healing within Native communities.
