A group of federal officials met for the first time this week to discuss a strategy to combat the epidemic of missing and murdered individuals in Indian Country, but some advocates are wary about whether it will make a meaningful difference, ABC News reports. Men and women from American Indian and Alaska Native communities face higher rates of domestic and sexual violence than other populations. In November, President Donald Trump authorized a task force involving several cabinet agencies. In the group’s first meeting, members discussed where to focus their work. The initiative, nicknamed “Operation Lady Justice,” will work with tribal leaders to develop new protocols on how to handle new and unsolved cases of missing and murdered persons in Indian Country, including Alaska Native villages, re-examine how law enforcement agencies conduct data on these cases and create a team to revisit cold cases.
Of almost 6,000 indigenous women reported missing in 2016, only 116 were logged into the Justice Department’s missing persons database, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute. Some have attracted national attention from the media and lawmakers, mostly driven through activism from victims’ families and communities calling for more action on the problem. Experts noted that the new task force doesn’t include those voices, as it’s made up only of federal officials. Annita Lucchesi of the Sovereign Bodies Institute said the task force’s goals are too vague to make a meaningful difference and that it feels like a matter of convenience in an election year. “It’s insensitive to Indian Country to expect us to line up and share our stories in these consultations and not have any decisionmaking power at the table,” she said.