Although the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement began by focusing on violence against indigenous women, violence against Indigenous relatives (MMIR) occurs at alarmingly high rates, with American Indian and Alaska Native women and men victimized at similar rates–84.3% for women and 81.6% for men. Utah is not exempt from this issue and in 2018, the Urban Indian Health Institute published a report about missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) in U.S. urban areas that showed Salt Lake was among the top 10 cities with MMIW cases. In March 2020 Governor Hubert signed the bill that established the Utah MMIWG TAsk Force to look at the underlying causes and solutions, as well as to hear the stories from those who have lost loved ones. This presentation will discuss the issues that contribute to MMIRs, the role of the Utah TAsk Force, the impacts of trauma on Native individuals, families and communities and ways to support healing around the issue.
This speaker will provide information which will allow participants to:
1) Present the current state around Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women & Girls and the work assigned to the MMIWG Task Force; and,
2) Evaluate the issues and assess the trauma of this population then design a treatment plan and identify the social justice needs.
