NCAI Tribal Leader Town Hall on the Violence Against Women Act
Date: March 16, 2022
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm Eastern

NCAI will host a virtual Town Hall on March 16, 2022 on the VAWA reauthorization to discuss this historic moment for Indian Country, review the tribal provisions in the law, and highlight the next steps for Tribal Nations. More information to come.

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Congress Reauthorizes Violence Against Women Act in FY22 Omnibus – Restoring Tribal Jurisdiction

Last night, Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) as part of passing the Omnibus Spending Package for Fiscal Year 2022. The VAWA reauthorization includes historic provisions that strengthen tribal sovereignty and safety in Indian Country and significantly increase resources for Tribal Nations to exercise their restored jurisdiction. NCAI will host a tribal leader town hall on this monumental piece of legislation for Indian Country on March 16, 2022 at 2:00 pm EDT. You can register for the town hall below.

The historic tribal provisions in VAWA:

• Reaffirm Tribal Nations’ jurisdiction to prosecute non-Indian perpetrators of child violence, sexual violence, sex trafficking, stalking, crimes against tribal law enforcement and correctional officers, and obstruction of justice;
• Establish an Alaska pilot project, which will allow a limited number of Alaska Native Villages to exercise Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction and civil jurisdiction over non-Indian perpetrators for the first time since the 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie;
• Clarify that all Tribal Nations in Maine can exercise tribal jurisdiction under VAWA;
• Ensure that non-Indian defendants must exhaust all Tribal court remedies;
• Reauthorize funding for and amending the Tribal Access Program, to ensure that all Tribal Nations can access national crime information systems for criminal justice and non-criminal justice purposes;
• Make the 2010 Bureau of Prisons Tribal Prisoner Program permanent and allow Tribal Nations to place offenders in federal facilities that are sentenced to one year or more; and

Significantly increase resources for Tribal Nations to exercise Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction and establish a reimbursement program to cover tribal costs.