Bystander No More? Improving the Federal Response to Sexual Violence in Indian Country

In this article, the author frames the United States as a culpable bystander in the many occurrences of sexual violence perpetrated against Indigenous women and children, focusing particularly on the policies of official indifference perpetrated by the United States government. The author goes on to explain the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) model and its contribution to sex crimes that are committed on Indigenous land. The article concludes with some specific achievements of the Obama administration but emphasizes the work that remains to be done and proposes some next steps to build on the improvements made by the Obama administration.