War On Women

Chart of the Day

via The American Prospect

As of this time, the Violence Against Women Act still hasn't been renewed by congress.

House Republicans continue to block passage of the bill because it grants existing protections to immigrants and Native American tribes. Sexual assaults on Native American women are reportedly at "epidemic levels."

The numbers bear out their fears. In some rural villages, rapes are 12 times more common than the national rate, and for Native American women, generally sexual assault is more than twice as common as the national average, according to The New York Times. The Alaska Federation of Natives cites a 2010 report by the University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center, finding that while only 15.2 percent of Alaskans are Native American, they are the victims of 50 percent of the domestic violence and 61 percent of the sexual assaults committed in the state.

A majority of assaults on immigrant women also go unreported because they fear deportation.