October 2020
“In March 2017, the StrongHearts Native Helpline launched operations as the first culturally-appropriate domestic violence and dating violence helpline for American Indians and Alaska Natives across the United States. Efforts in the first year of operations included the development a referral database of culturally-appropriate and Tribal-based service providers to serve caller needs in a culturally-rooted way. To date, our team has identified only 266 Native providers for American Indian and Alaska Native people. What we have confirmed from gathering and vetting services is that there continues to be a severe resource gap impacting the ability of Tribes to address intimate partner violence in their communities.
As a project of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center and the National Domestic Violence Hotline, StrongHearts was created by and for American Indian and Alaska Natives, a population with some of the highest rates of domestic violence in the United States. Tribes, as sovereign nations, face significant jurisdictional hurdles when addressing domestic violence and dating violence in their communities. Gaps in Native-centered supportive services create unique barriers for Native victims seeking help.”