PP2 - Interest Group or Issue

According to the Association on American Indian Affairs, Native Americans experience violence disproportionately to all other races. They provide these statistics on their website:

• Native Americans are 2.5 times more likely to experience violent crimes and 2 times more likely to experience rape or sexual assault crimes compared to all other races. 
• 84.3% of Native Women have experienced violence during their life. 
• An average of 40% of women who were victims of sex trafficking in the U.S. and Canada were Native women. 

As a result of these crime rates against Native Americans, specifically Native women, many interest groups have started to provide resources to victims and awareness to the general population. Interest groups provide a space and a voice to advocate against certain issues and organize events, such as protests and campaigns. One of these interest groups that is involved with violence against Natives is the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center. 

The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center (NIWRC) is a non-profit, Native-led organization that works towards ending violence against Native women and children. Founded in 2011, their mission statement is as follows: 

"Our mission is to provide national leadership to end violence against American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian women by supporting culturally grounded, grassroots advocacy."

The NIWRC staff is made up of Native women from across the U.S. These women all have experience in activism and knowledge of the violence that is committed against Native women. They outline that, in order to see change in Native communities, Native women should be provided with resources such as safe housing, financial security, childcare, healthcare, legal services, and abuser accountability. In Native communities, accountability is obtained through tribal justice systems, rather than county or city governments. The NIWRC is working towards giving these tribal justice systems the resources to properly protect Native women and give them justice. 

A photo of the NIWRC staff. 

The NIWRC supports a variety of different policies that are related to their cause. Some of the policies that they specifically point out in their Policy Center are:

• Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA)
• Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
• Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)
• Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIWR)
• Safe Housing

Media engagement is incredibly important to the NIWRC. The NIWRC offers a plethora of media strategies to further push its agenda and bring awareness to the policies they support. They frequently post on various social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X. Their posts are often shown to bring awareness and inspire dialogue and activism to their audience. 

The NIWRC has been posting on YouTube since 2013 and has accumulated 578 subscribers. Their YouTube features a number of videos ranging from personal accounts of domestic abuse to speeches from various events. They also stream a podcast called Speaking Our Truth, Podcast For Change on various platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts, to name a few.  Their key focus for the podcast is to give a voice to Native women and encourage people to take action through the discussion of important topics and issues that are happening within Indigenous communities. 

Video link in photo.

The NIWRC also utilizes Instagram, where they have amassed an audience of over 40k followers. They often use infographics on their Instagram to spread information about various issues, events, and personal stories. They also use Instagram Reels to post short videos of content, such as a post from 2023 where they share a video from the Variety Power of Women awards. Instagram Stories are also a beneficial tool for the NIWRC, as they can provide real-time updates to their audience. 

Link in photo.

The NIWRC's X and Facebook profiles serve a similar purpose to their Instagram, with the former having a total of 11k followers, and the latter having 38k followers. Through these social media platforms, they promote events with their posts and links. In addition, the NIWRC uses a variety of hashtags throughout their different profiles such as #DVAM2024 for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, #IndigenousPeoplesDay, and #MMIWR for Missing and Murdered Indigenous women. These hashtags allow the NIWRC to further categorize their posts and have a wider outreach.

An example of the way that the NIWRC uses hashtags from an X post. 

They also promote their merchandise on all of their social media platforms. In their posts, the NIWRC provides a link to their Etsy shop, which offers a variety of different items, such as shirts, buttons, stickers, and patches. All of the proceeds from merchandise sales goes back into funding the organization's events and campaigning. 

An example of the NIWRC's merchandise promotion. 

The NIWRC also offers more traditional forms of media to raise awareness for Indigenous women who experience violence. One example of this is their magazine publication called The Restoration of Native Sovereignity and Safety for Native Women, or, The Restoration for short. Their website has a link to all of the digital issues of the magazine, as well as a link where a print version can be subscribed to through Paypal. 

The cover of the NIWRC's most recent issue from June 2024 (Link to Digital Issue).

They also offer an area on their website where people can sign up for their mailing list. From this mailing list, individuals can receive legislative updates, newsletters, and many other pieces of information involving the NIWRC. They also have a portal on their website called the Housing Resource Library where people can access the various resources they create, host, and support. This includes webinars, fact sheets, and bibliographies, to name a few. There is also a place on the website where people can order print versions of resources, such as books, posters, brochures, etc. 

Another important area on the NIWRC's website is Hotlines for Victims and Survivors. They provide various hotlines that allow victims to seek help, which is an important form of communication for their cause. In addition, they have an area on the website where they promote future events that are happening in communities across the U.S. These events are also promoted across all of their social media platforms, such as the upcoming webinar about disability justice (Social media post about event). 

The NIWRC's media strategy does exactly what it is meant to do, which is inform and inspire. Their posts provide information that the general public may not be aware of, which encourages people to talk about the violence that Indigenous women face and be called to action. They have various media outlets that include a wide variety of consumers, such as social media users, podcast listeners, and magazine readers. Through different formats, such as video, audio, and image, the NIWRC is able to reach a wide audience to further push their cause.