Because you should care.
In 2004, Jackie Brown Otter founded Pretty Bird Woman House, a women's shelter at the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota. The shelter is named after Brown Otter's sister, who was kidnapped, raped, and beaten to death in 2001.
According to Amnesty Intn'l report,
High levels of sexual violence on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation take place in a context of high rates of poverty and crime... The unemployment rate on the Reservation is 71 per cent. Crime rates on the Reservation often exceed those of its surrounding areas. According to FBI figures, in 2005 South Dakota had the fourth highest rate of "forcible rapes" of women of any US state.
As a special bonus to the Lakota Sioux Reservation, there are sufficient desensitization to crime and confusion over Tribal/Non-Tribal jurisdiction at Standing Rock to create rape tourism. Says Andrea Smith, an Assistant Professor of Native Studies at the University of Michigan,
[N]on-Native perpetrators often seek out a reservation place because they know they can inflict violence without much happening to them.
Against these odds, Pretty Bird Woman House is staffed by three people-- a nurse, a volunteer, and a part-time employee-- and from January to October of this year, they managed to:
-- answer 397 crisis calls
-- give emergency shelter to 188 women and 132 children
-- help 23 women obtain restraining orders, 10 get divorces, and 16 get medical assistance
-- provide court advocacy support for 28 women
-- conduct community education programs for 360 women.
A few weeks ago, PBWH's phone lines were cut, the office was ransacked, and the building was burnt down.
Everyone was away from the house at the time, but all possessions were lost, and-- because PBWH's grant from the South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence is predicated on its ability to shelter women-- its funding is also lost. Now everybody's trying to pick up the pieces.
Click here for the full story.
How you can help:
1. Donate what you can for a new house.
Pretty Bird Woman House already has two potential replacement houses in mind. Both offer significantly more space than the previous building... full basements, storage room and would house more than double the families and women than their previous building. Both buildings have yards which means possible playgrounds for children.
One house has a major advantage in location - a police station across the street.
Because of difficulties obtaining loans (banks are allergic to both Native Americans and poverty) the best solution lies in purchasing the house outright. The Tribal Council could hold the mortgage but coming up with the mortgage payments every month creates an ongoing problem. Since both houses are on the market, they could be gone anytime. Depressed property values on Standing Rock mean that $60,000 gets the house. An additional $10,000 is required to make them secure, with proper fencing, video cameras, reinforced doors and other measures.
Since 10/25, the drive for donations for PBWH has garnered 17% of the $70,000 goal; the drive ends January 2008-- so consider donating in someone's name as a Christmas present. Donations can be made here.
2. Donate material goods-- clothing, toiletries, non-perishables, etc.
USPS to:
Pretty Bird Woman House
P.O. Box 596
McLaughlin, SD 57642
or FedEx, UPS, DHL ship to:
Pretty Bird Woman House
302 Sale Barn Rd.
McLaughlin SD 57642
3. Spread this meme.
+++++
I'm possibly the cheapest and most uncaring bastard I know, and even I donated $15. Why? Because this fucking matters. First Nation women suffer disproportionately in this country due to the high levels of poverty among First Nation men, which leads to alcoholism, drug use, and abuse of women.
And honestly, if your ancestors were here in the 1700's-1800's, your lineage is somewhat responsible for the state of First Nation peoples today. People always talk about how they want things to change, and then they don't do a single thing when there's an opportunity.
Flist, you should care, especially since most of you are female as well. Women still do not have equal rights in just about anywhere in the world, not even close. You have the money to buy yourself imported things from other countries, yet most of you won't even spare a single dollar for a good cause just because it doesn't personally affect you.
I just spent over $100 to replace my broken external, and when I send in the old one to be replaced, I'll have two. And I will never have a good excuse to have even one external hd. I don't have a good excuse to not donate to things that matter. I don't have a good excuse to not donate, period. And ceresi, the person who originally posted this on my flist, is possibly the hardest-working person I know and is always dealing with financial troubles, and even she's going to donate when her financial aid comes in.
And I know everyone who is on lj has a dollar to spare.
+++
And while you're at it, you should check out Project Download. Download a text file once a day to help out redscorner, who is suffering from two neurological disorders and doesn't have the money to pay for them. The FAQ is particularly helpful.
According to Amnesty Intn'l report,
High levels of sexual violence on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation take place in a context of high rates of poverty and crime... The unemployment rate on the Reservation is 71 per cent. Crime rates on the Reservation often exceed those of its surrounding areas. According to FBI figures, in 2005 South Dakota had the fourth highest rate of "forcible rapes" of women of any US state.
As a special bonus to the Lakota Sioux Reservation, there are sufficient desensitization to crime and confusion over Tribal/Non-Tribal jurisdiction at Standing Rock to create rape tourism. Says Andrea Smith, an Assistant Professor of Native Studies at the University of Michigan,
[N]on-Native perpetrators often seek out a reservation place because they know they can inflict violence without much happening to them.
Against these odds, Pretty Bird Woman House is staffed by three people-- a nurse, a volunteer, and a part-time employee-- and from January to October of this year, they managed to:
-- answer 397 crisis calls
-- give emergency shelter to 188 women and 132 children
-- help 23 women obtain restraining orders, 10 get divorces, and 16 get medical assistance
-- provide court advocacy support for 28 women
-- conduct community education programs for 360 women.
A few weeks ago, PBWH's phone lines were cut, the office was ransacked, and the building was burnt down.
Everyone was away from the house at the time, but all possessions were lost, and-- because PBWH's grant from the South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence is predicated on its ability to shelter women-- its funding is also lost. Now everybody's trying to pick up the pieces.
Click here for the full story.
How you can help:
1. Donate what you can for a new house.
Pretty Bird Woman House already has two potential replacement houses in mind. Both offer significantly more space than the previous building... full basements, storage room and would house more than double the families and women than their previous building. Both buildings have yards which means possible playgrounds for children.
One house has a major advantage in location - a police station across the street.
Because of difficulties obtaining loans (banks are allergic to both Native Americans and poverty) the best solution lies in purchasing the house outright. The Tribal Council could hold the mortgage but coming up with the mortgage payments every month creates an ongoing problem. Since both houses are on the market, they could be gone anytime. Depressed property values on Standing Rock mean that $60,000 gets the house. An additional $10,000 is required to make them secure, with proper fencing, video cameras, reinforced doors and other measures.
Since 10/25, the drive for donations for PBWH has garnered 17% of the $70,000 goal; the drive ends January 2008-- so consider donating in someone's name as a Christmas present. Donations can be made here.
2. Donate material goods-- clothing, toiletries, non-perishables, etc.
USPS to:
Pretty Bird Woman House
P.O. Box 596
McLaughlin, SD 57642
or FedEx, UPS, DHL ship to:
Pretty Bird Woman House
302 Sale Barn Rd.
McLaughlin SD 57642
3. Spread this meme.
+++++
I'm possibly the cheapest and most uncaring bastard I know, and even I donated $15. Why? Because this fucking matters. First Nation women suffer disproportionately in this country due to the high levels of poverty among First Nation men, which leads to alcoholism, drug use, and abuse of women.
And honestly, if your ancestors were here in the 1700's-1800's, your lineage is somewhat responsible for the state of First Nation peoples today. People always talk about how they want things to change, and then they don't do a single thing when there's an opportunity.
Flist, you should care, especially since most of you are female as well. Women still do not have equal rights in just about anywhere in the world, not even close. You have the money to buy yourself imported things from other countries, yet most of you won't even spare a single dollar for a good cause just because it doesn't personally affect you.
I just spent over $100 to replace my broken external, and when I send in the old one to be replaced, I'll have two. And I will never have a good excuse to have even one external hd. I don't have a good excuse to not donate to things that matter. I don't have a good excuse to not donate, period. And ceresi, the person who originally posted this on my flist, is possibly the hardest-working person I know and is always dealing with financial troubles, and even she's going to donate when her financial aid comes in.
And I know everyone who is on lj has a dollar to spare.
+++
And while you're at it, you should check out Project Download. Download a text file once a day to help out redscorner, who is suffering from two neurological disorders and doesn't have the money to pay for them. The FAQ is particularly helpful.