Task Force Fights For Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

OLYMPIA, WA — Washington state is putting together a new task force, which state leaders hope will be able to address the disproportionately high death and disappearance rates of indigenous women and people.

It's called the Washington State Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIW/P) Task Force, and once it's up and running, the group will "assess systemic causes behind the high rate of disappearances and murders of indigenous women and people," the Attorney General's Office said.

According to the state, indigenous women go missing and are murdered at higher rates of any other ethnic group in the country. They are two and a half times more likely to experience sexual assault, and nearly half of indigenous women in America have been raped, beaten, or stalked.

The MMIW/P Task Force is the result of a multi-year effort to address those issues, which began in October 2019, when Attorney General Bob Ferguson gathered together federal, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies to try and find a long-term solution.

Legislative appointments to the task force are set to begin later this month, but this week Ferguson announced the formation of a new team who will help facilitate their work.

“This exceptional team will be crucial to the work of our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Task Force,” Ferguson said in a written statement. “They are ready to get to work. Tribal communities have experienced disproportionate violence for too long. This announcement is an important step forward in addressing systemic inequities and improving our state’s response.”

Ferguson's task force staff include Annie Forsman-Adams, a member of the Suquamish Tribe who has been addressing violence in indigenous communities for more than a decade, Asa K. Washines from the Yakima Nation, a U.S. Army veteran who works with the AGO on tribal affairs, and Ellen Austin Hall, a Senior Policy and External Affairs Manager for Ferguson's Office.

The task force itself will be composed of 21 members appointed by the State Legislature, and must include 5 appointees from federally-recognized tribes, two indigenous women or family members of indigenous women who have experienced gender-based violence, and a number of representatives from law enforcement agencies, the state prosecuting attorneys association, among other groups.

After the MMIW/P Task Force is appointed and sets to work, they will be asked to produce two reports for Gov. Inslee and the state legislature, one in August 2022, the other in June 2023, which will outline steps the state can take to better prevent violence against indigenous women and people.