34 U.S. Code § 10452 - Grants to Indian tribal governments

(a) Grants

The Attorney General may make grants to Indian tribal governments or authorized designees of Indian tribal governments to—

(1) develop and enhance effective governmental strategies to curtail violent crimes against and increase the safety of Indian women consistent with tribal law and custom;

(2) increase tribal capacity to respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking crimes against Indian women;

(3) strengthen tribal justice interventions including tribal law enforcement, prosecution, courts, probation,[1] correctional facilities;

(4) enhance services to Indian women victimized by domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking;

(5) work in cooperation with the community to develop education and prevention strategies directed toward issues of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking;

(6) provide programs for supervised visitation and safe visitation exchange of children in situations involving domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking committed by one parent against the other with appropriate security measures, policies, and procedures to protect the safety of victims and their children;

(7) provide transitional housing for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, or stalking, including rental or utilities payments assistance and assistance with related expenses such as security deposits and other costs incidental to relocation to transitional housing, and support services to enable a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, or stalking to locate and secure permanent housing and integrate into a community;

(8) provide legal assistance necessary to provide effective aid to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, sex trafficking, or sexual assault who are seeking relief in legal matters arising as a consequence of that abuse or violence, at minimal or no cost to the victims;

(9) provide services to address the needs of youth who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, or stalking and the needs of youth and children exposed to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including support for the nonabusing parent or the caretaker of the youth or child;

(10) develop and promote legislation and policies that enhance best practices for responding to violent crimes against Indian women, including the crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking;

(11) develop, strengthen, and implement policies, protocols, and training for law enforcement regarding cases of missing or murdered Indians, as described in section 5704 of title 25; and

(12) compile and annually report data to the Attorney General related to missing or murdered Indians, as described in section 5705 of title 25.

(b) Collaboration

All applicants under this section shall demonstrate their proposal was developed in consultation with a nonprofit, nongovernmental Indian victim services program, including sexual assault and domestic violence victim services providers in the tribal or local community, or a nonprofit tribal domestic violence and sexual assault coalition to the extent that they exist. In the absence of such a demonstration, the applicant may meet the requirement of this subsection through consultation with women in the community to be served.

(Pub. L. 90–351, title I, § 2015, formerly § 2007, as added Pub. L. 109–162, title IX, § 906(a), Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 3080; renumbered § 2015 and amended Pub. L. 109–271, § 7(a)(1)(A), (C), (3), Aug. 12, 2006, 120 Stat. 763; Pub. L. 113–4, title IX, § 901, Mar. 7, 2013, 127 Stat. 118; Pub. L. 116–165, § 7(b), Oct. 10, 2020, 134 Stat. 765.)

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[1]  So in original. Probably should be followed by “and”.

Editorial Notes

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 3796gg–10 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments

2020—Subsec. (a)(11), (12). Pub. L. 116–165, which directed addition of pars. (11) and (12) to this section, was executed by making the addition to subsec. (a) of this section to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

2013—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 113–4, § 901(1), inserted “sex trafficking,” after “sexual assault,”.

Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 113–4, § 901(2), inserted “sex trafficking,” after “sexual assault,”.

Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 113–4, § 901(3), substituted “sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking;” for “and stalking programs and to address the needs of children exposed to domestic violence;”.

Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 113–4, § 901(4)(A), inserted “sex trafficking,” after “sexual assault,” in two places.

Subsec. (a)(8). Pub. L. 113–4, § 901(5)(A), inserted “sex trafficking,” after “stalking,”.

Subsec. (a)(9), (10). Pub. L. 113–4, § 901(4)(B), (5)(B), (6), added pars. (9) and (10).

2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–271, § 7(a)(3)(A), substituted “or authorized designees of Indian tribal governments” for “and tribal organizations” in introductory provisions and added par. (8).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 109–271, § 7(a)(3)(B), struck out subsec. (c). Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “The Federal share of a grant made under this section may not exceed 90 percent of the total costs of the project described in the application submitted, except that the Attorney General may grant a waiver of this match requirement on the basis of demonstrated financial hardship. Funds appropriated for the activities of any agency of an Indian tribal government or of the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing law enforcement functions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non-Federal share of the cost of programs or projects funded under this section.”

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2013 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 113–4 not effective until the beginning of the fiscal year following Mar. 7, 2013, see section 4 of Pub. L. 113–4, set out as a note under section 2261 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.

Effective Date

Section not effective until the beginning of fiscal year 2007, see section 4 of Pub. L. 109–162, set out as an Effective Date of 2006 Amendment note under section 10261 of this title.

Findings and Purposes

Pub. L. 109–162, title IX, §§ 901, 902, Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 3077, 3078, provided that:

“SEC. 901. FINDINGS.

“Congress finds that—

“(1) 1 out of every 3 Indian (including Alaska Native) women are raped in their lifetimes;

“(2) Indian women experience 7 sexual assaults per 1,000, compared with 4 per 1,000 among Black Americans, 3 per 1,000 among Caucasians, 2 per 1,000 among Hispanic women, and 1 per 1,000 among Asian women;

“(3) Indian women experience the violent crime of battering at a rate of 23.2 per 1,000, compared with 8 per 1,000 among Caucasian women;

“(4) during the period 1979 through 1992, homicide was the third leading cause of death of Indian females aged 15 to 34, and 75 percent were killed by family members or acquaintances;

“(5) Indian tribes require additional criminal justice and victim services resources to respond to violent assaults against women; and

“(6) the unique legal relationship of the United States to Indian tribes creates a Federal trust responsibility to assist tribal governments in safeguarding the lives of Indian women.

“SEC. 902. PURPOSES.

“The purposes of this title [see Tables for classification] are—

“(1) to decrease the incidence of violent crimes against Indian women;

“(2) to strengthen the capacity of Indian tribes to exercise their sovereign authority to respond to violent crimes committed against Indian women; and

“(3) to ensure that perpetrators of violent crimes committed against Indian women are held accountable for their criminal behavior.”

National Baseline Study on Violence Against Indian Women

Pub. L. 109–162, title IX, § 904(a), Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 3078, as amended by Pub. L. 113–4, title IX, § 907(a), Mar. 7, 2013, 127 Stat. 125, provided that:

“(1) In general.—

Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 [Mar. 7, 2013], the National Institute of Justice, in consultation with the Office on Violence Against Women, shall conduct a national baseline study to examine violence against Indian women in Indian country and in Native villages (as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602)).

“(2) Scope.—

“(A) In general.—

The study shall examine violence committed against Indian women, including—

“(i) domestic violence;

“(ii) dating violence;

“(iii) sexual assault;

“(iv) stalking;

“(v) murder; and

“(vi) sex trafficking.

“(B) Evaluation.—

The study shall evaluate the effectiveness of Federal, State, tribal, and local responses to the violations described in subparagraph (A) committed against Indian women.

“(C) Recommendations.—

The study shall propose recommendations to improve the effectiveness of Federal, State, tribal, and local responses to the violation described in subparagraph (A) committed against Indian women.

“(3) Task force.—

“(A) In general.—

The Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Office on Violence Against Women, shall establish a task force to assist in the development and implementation of the study under paragraph (1) and guide implementation of the recommendation in paragraph (2)(C).

“(B) Members.—

The Director shall appoint to the task force representatives from—

“(i) national tribal domestic violence and sexual assault nonprofit organizations;

“(ii) tribal governments; and

“(iii) the national tribal organizations.

“(4) Report.—

Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 [Mar. 7, 2013], the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report that describes the study.

“(5) Authorization of appropriations.—

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 and 2015, to remain available until expended.”