Addressing the Spectrum of Housing for Victim/Survivors for DV, Sexual Violence and Trafficking in Tribal Communities
Introduction to STTARS: Safety, Training, and Technical Assistance, Resources and Support, the Indig
June 28, 2022 • Caroline LaPorte, Gwendolyn Packard
STTARS- Indigenous Safe Housing Center at NIWRC was created to address the intersection of housing instability/homelessness and domestic violence. This session will introduce the Center, the importance of our work, our approach, and upcoming events and activities. We will provide information about the National Workgroup for Safe Housing for American Indians and Alaska Native Survivors of Gender-Based Violence and share copies of the report. Our vision is “Safe Housing for All Our Relatives.”
Historical Overview of Tribal Housing
June 28, 2022 • Theodore Jojola
Forty percent of on-reservation housing (compared to 6 percent outside of Native nations’ land) is considered substandard housing. In addition, according to NCAI, nearly ⅓ of homes are overcrowded and less than ½ of homes on the reservation are connected to public sewer systems, and 16 percent lack indoor plumbing. At the core of this issue, Indigenous Nations have survived decades and decades of unjust federal policies that mandated removal, relocation, displacement, and broken treaties. As a result, these systemic injustices left tribes with limited economic opportunities, high poverty rates, low employment rates, and high housing shortages and crises. This session will look at traditional housing and the impacts of HUD on traditional housing practices and community development.
Housing Insecurity and Homelessness in Indian Country
June 28, 2022 • Paloma Sanchez
Housing Insecurity and Homelessness Indigenous people are so pervasive in this country for both our on the reservation and off-reservation relatives. The housing crisis and homelessness in Indigenous communities have a long contextual history of enormous land theft, unjust removal from homelands backed by federal policies, and historical injustices. This presentation will focus on the unique and cultural circumstances of our unsheltered Indigenous relatives. It will make critical connections between our high rates of poverty, workforce development and employment, and the lack of economic development, resources, and accessibility. To address these issues we not only need to strengthen the sovereignty of Tribal Nations but also start with a cultural framework that speaks to our communities and fortifies Indigenous kinship to protect and support our Relatives who need safe, affordable housing.
Safety and Housing Issues Facing Our Alaskan and Hawaiian Native Relatives
June 28, 2022 • Tami Truett Jerue, Chelsie Evans
This session will focus on housing issues and injustices that our Native Hawaiian and Alaskan Native Relatives are confronting. Discussion includes a description of the current landscape of the housing crisis affecting their communities, and what current work is being done to address it on a community, tribal, state, and/or national level.
Domestic Violence Shelters and Other Safe Space: What Is the Need and How Do We Meet It?
June 29, 2022 • Tami Truett Jerue, Brenda Hill, Linda Schwartz
Indigenous women continue to be the most battered, sexually assaulted/raped, stalked, and murdered group in the United States. Yet there are approximately only 145 tribal/native domestic violence programs within the U.S., and of those only about 60 have shelters. This panel discussion will focus on critical questions about why there are so few domestic violence programs and shelters in Indian Country, and what prevents tribes from establishing and sustaining domestic violence programs? What are the alternatives in order to provide safe, consistent, and healing space and housing for survivors? How do we ensure the leadership of indigenous women and other survivors in this process?
Women who are homeless report higher rates of domestic violence than the general population. Domestic violence is one of the most common reasons why women are homeless. Survivors face challenges navigating the criminal justice system, severe shortages of safe affordable housing, stigmatization if they are from a marginalized group and a revolving door of housing insecurity and instability. This session will focus on how programs, tribes, and organizations can collaborate to create standard services that are coordinated and cross-disciplinary to move survivors to stable, secure housing. In addition, this session will explore the need to support affordable housing development, increase the capacity of survivors to grow as leaders, and increase equitable access to affordable safe housing. With Clarissa Antone, Arlene Zahne, and Bridgette Davis.
Strengthening Our Advocacy to Respond to Housing/Shelter Needs of Survivors
June 29, 2022 • Norine Hill, Lisa Heth, Vicky Ybanez
Shelter and long-term housing are vital for survivors of domestic and sexual violence who leave their abusive partners in search of safety. Advocate response must include not only culturally specific programs but also flexible systems that support and honor our Relatives who escape abuse and violence. Strengthening advocacy involves providing support, believing, and honoring survivors, and supporting access to safe housing. This process is trauma-informed with an emphasis on survivor-driven, culturally supported, empowerment and healing. This session will focus on how advocates can reduce barriers between survivors and housing needs while striving for social change that will strengthen housing advocacy.
Safe Housing is a Human Right
June 30, 2022 • Caroline LaPorte
Housing is a basic human right, yet American Indian and Alaska Native survivors of gender-based violence frequently report severe access issues and complete barriers. This session will explore the framework of housing as a human right through international law, treaty law, and domestic law. Panelists will discuss advocacy avenues and past successes and engage with participants in robust discussion about why housing is a conditioned “privilege” in the United States and what must change here in order to realize safe housing for all. With Christopher Foley, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum & Brett Jones
A People of Place: Innovations in Tribal Housing and Community Development
June 30, 2022 • Tatewin Means
This session will focus on the importance of community-based approaches to healing, innovative, culturally specific community development, and asset building through housing development. Strengthening communities is not just about increasing resources, but also investing in our Indigenous peoples through cultural teachings, environments, and lifeways. Indigenous peoples are “A People of Place” and we maintain these connections through our stewardship and environmental sustainability.
Human Rights Clinic on Tribal Housing Code and Domestic Violence
June 30, 2022 • Caroline LaPorte, Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum, Brett Jones
The STTARS Indigenous Safe Housing Center has strategically developed a critical partnership with the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR) to implement a key project of the Center. CLIHHR conducts research and provides legal assistance through its “action arm”—the Benjamin B. Ferencz Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention (“HRAP Clinic”). In the past year, the students of HRAP have been working with STTARS Indigenous Safe Housing Center on the Tribal Housing Code Clearinghouse. The goal of this Clearinghouse is to better understand how tribal and federal law and policy affect the ability of Indigenous survivors of gender-based violence to access, maintain, and sustain safe housing and shelter. This session will explore the process, progress, and next steps for this project, and participants are encouraged to bring their Tribal Housing Codes (and policies/codes related to gender-based violence and housing) and share out on best practices, gaps, and ideas for increasing safety and housing/shelter access in Tribal communities.
Policy Considerations and Recommendations: Impact of VAWA
June 30, 2022 • Caroline LaPorte
The Violence Against Women Act has been reauthorized several times and each time has included added protections for the safety of Native women. But VAWA 2005, 2013, and now 2022 also added increased protections regarding shelter and housing access for survivors. This session will explore the changes to VAWA since 2005 in regards to housing instability/homelessness and gender-based violence and will provide an update to the newest provisions from 2022.
