PD chief: Domestic violence 'dominant'
"Domestic violence on the Navajo Reservation is "very dominant," acting Navajo Nation Police Chief Harry Sombrero told U.S. attorneys from Arizona, New Mexico and Utah on April 26.
Sombrero emphasized that in the domestic violence cases he's handled, the perpetrators went on to kill their victims about three years after first threatening them with death. The perpetrators in these cases were male - boyfriends, husbands or ex-husbands, he said.He and the U.S. attorneys met at the Navajo Nation Museum to discuss how they can improve their efforts to make life safer for tribal members.
Last year tribal police responded to 4,851 domestic violence calls, according to the Division of Public Safety statistics. The number was even higher in the previous three years, peaking at over 6,700 in 2007."
Navajo Co. sets up centers to serve victims of domestic violence
By Marley Shebala
WINDOW ROCK, April 7, 201"he Navajo County attorney's office plans to open two family advocacy centers dedicated to help reduce the trauma suffered by victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and child abuse.They are the latest in a multi-pronged effort by the office to reduce violence against residents in the county, a long narrow stretch of mostly rural land north of the Mogollon Rim.
The first center will open next month in Show Low and the second one will open in Holbrook in August."
Violence Against Family Act revived
WINDOW ROCK, July 21, 2011
"After it lay dormant for 12 or 14 years, first lady Martha Shelly dusted off the Violence Against Family Act and placed it in the hands of Delegates Katherine Benally and Joshua Butler as part of "Navajo Nation Stop Violence Against Women Day" on Wednesday."
NAGEEZI, N.M., May 12, 2011
"The domestic violence case of 44-year-old Linda Begay began as an appeal to her tribe for protection for herself and her children. More than two years later, serious lapses in service delivery by tribal agencies mandated to help people like Begay have left her homeless, her children in foster care, and her hopes for rebuilding her life a dim light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel."
"Linda Begay constantly smiles, even as she describes her tortured 16 years with her estranged husband, Wallace Begay, 50."
Navajo Co. sets up centers to serve victims of domestic violence
WINDOW ROCK, April 7, 2011
"The Navajo County attorney's office plans to open two family advocacy centers dedicated to help reduce the trauma suffered by victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and child abuse.
They are the latest in a multi-pronged effort by the office to reduce violence against residents in the county, a long narrow stretch of mostly rural land north of the Mogollon Rim."
Telling her story
GALLUP, March 24, 2011
"After what seemed like a non-stop three-hour beating, 24-year-old Krystal Yazzie's face was a bloody mess.
...
"My 3-year-old son didn't know I was his mother," Yazzie said."
Shebala followed up this story; her follow up piece is available online. (Navajo Times, WINDOW ROCK, Aapril 14, 2011, System finally responds to beating victim's pleas)
I am not including it here, as the Times chose to run a photo of Ms. Yazzie which feeds the desire to see "proof," the erotics and pleasure often derived from seeing images of violence against women, and only serves to turn our attention away from the perpetrators and onto the victims.
Learn more about Shebala in Dan Kraker's 2006 article in the High Country News: "How many American journalists can claim that their reporting helped oust two presidents? Navajo Times reporter Marley Shebala can: Her tireless muckraking helped lead to the downfall — and eventual imprisonment — of Navajo Nation Chairman Peter MacDonald in 1989."
