Culturally Specific Advocacy for Native/Indigenous Communities

Culturally Specific Advocacy

Culturally specific advocacy rests on a foundation of designing programs to serve ethnic- or identity-specific groups taking into account their identity, language, history, and contexts of historical marginalization and oppression; with advocates drawing on their knowledge of, and connection to, their community’s social, political, cultural, and gender issues.

Culturally-specific community-based-organizations address community-specific types and dynamics of gender-based violence, working to counteract various forms of stigma within communities and discrimination within systems, recognizing the importance of connection to community and the healing value of cultural and/or spiritual practices, collaborating with systems so they are not barriers but gateways to services, and identifying and addressing historical trauma.

Click here to learn more about culturally specific advocacy.

This page contains links to resources and technical assistance centers for advocates and service providers who are supporting Native/Indigenous survivors and their communities.

SEVEN DANCERS COALITION

The mission of the Seven Dancers Coalition is to uplift the families of Indigenous Communities by educating and restoring traditional values with the purpose of strengthening self-confidence and dignity. Seven Dancers Coalition offers programs for women, men, and youth.

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS WOMEN’S RESOURCE CENTER

The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, Inc. (NIWRC) is a Native-led nonprofit organization dedicated to ending violence against Native women and children. The NIWRC provides national leadership in ending gender-based violence in tribal communities by lifting up the collective voices of grassroots advocates and offering culturally grounded resources, technical assistance and training, and policy development to strengthen tribal sovereignty.

• Advocacy Information Packet
• Special Collection: Cultural Competency/Humility and Ally-Building in Indian Country
• Webinar Recording: 2021 MMIW National Briefing – Addressing the National Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women: Advocacy in Action
• Webinar Recording: Crime Victims in Indian Country and the Rights They are Owed
• Webinar Recording: Understanding the Dynamics and Tactics of Intimate Partner Violence through the Lens of Indigenous Survivors
• Webinar Recording: Mending the Rainbow: Working with the Native LGBT/Two-Spirit Community
• Webinar Recording: Creating a Circle of Safety for Victims/Survivors (Presentation Slides)
• Handbook: Creating a Circle of Safety
• Toolkit: Understanding and Responding to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women for Families and Communities
• Report: Colonization, Homelessness, and the Prostitution and Sex Trafficking of Native Women
• Flyer: Non-violence Equality Wheel
• Flyer: Intimate Partner Violence Triangle

MENDING THE SACRED HOOP

Mending the Sacred Hoop is a Native-owned and operated non-profit 501(c) 3 organization that exists to address violence against Native women and works to end it.

• The Principles of Advocacy: A Guide for Sexual Assault Advocates
• Tracking and Monitoring: Building a Coordinated Community Response in Native Communities
• Report: Nanda Gikendan Violence Against Native Women Community Education and Engagement Project
• Returning Men to Honor: Tribal Men’s Program/Batterer Intervention Program Development Workbook

VISIONING B.E.A.R. CIRCLE INTERTRIBAL COALITION

The mission of Visioning B.E.A.R. Circle Intertribal Coalition (VBCIC) is to prevent domestic and sexual violence and other interpersonal violence in the tribal, intertribal, and multicultural communities in the Northeast, which includes Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York, as well as nationally.

• Primary Prevention Curriculum: Walking in Balance With All Our Relations
• NYSCASA Webinar: Walking in Balance with All Our Relations Primary Prevention Curriculum
• NYSCASA Webinar: Culturally Relevant Evaluation of Sexual Violence Prevention Initiatives

SOAR FOR NATIVE COMMUNITIES TRAINING

The SOAR for Native Communities training is designed to equip those serving Indigenous populations to better understand the issues surrounding human trafficking and its impact in Native communities. It will identify resources relevant to Indigenous populations and will support building of responses to human trafficking in Native communities. Access the training here.

VAWnet has created a series of special collections, which are organized lists of select resources on specific topics related to gender-based violence that provide contextual information to encourage critical analysis, including:

• Gender Based Violence and Intersecting Challenges Impacting Native American & Alaskan Village Communities
• Domestic Violence in Latin@ Communities