Proposal would require data collection on missing, murdered indigenous women

Rep. Ponka-We Victors, D-Wichita, speaks at a news conference in support of legislation meant to prevent human trafficking of indigenous peoples. Supporters of House Bill 2646 wore red “in solidarity for the spilled blood of missing and murdered indigenous sisters across the nation,” Victors said.

By Taylorlynn Johnston

KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA — A Kansas state legislator believes the attorney general should be required to coordinate training for law enforcement agencies on missing and murdered indigenous people.

During a news conference, Rep. Ponka-We Victors, D-Wichita, introduced a bill Wednesday to fill a gap in Kansas law related to preventing human trafficking of indigenous peoples.

Several other legislators and representatives from multiple indigenous communities were present to support House Bill 2646, including representatives from the Dine (Navajo) Nation, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and the Kickapoo Tribe.

Supporters of the legislation wore red in “solidarity for the spilled blood of missing and murdered indigenous sisters across the nation,” Victors said.

According to a 2018 report by the Urban Indian Health Institute in 2018, the National Crime Information Center reported 5,712 reports of missing indigenous women and girls in 2016, but the U.S. Department of Justice’s federal missing persons database only logged 116 of those cases.

The institute reported murder as the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women and that rates of violence on reservations can be up to 10 times higher than the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Data is limited on missing and murdered indigenous women in Kansas and the United States. While multiple organizations have tried to gather information on missing and murdered indigenous women, it is often too localized and too small of a representation.

“This bill is just a first step to solving the problem,” Victors said.

She plans to continue collaborating with the four tribes of Kansas and the general public to solve the issue.

The bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee for further deliberation.

Taylorlynn Johnston is a University of Kansas junior from Colorado Springs, Colorado, majoring in journalism.

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