Legal Issues

The What is Sexual Assault tab contains all of the basic legal concepts related to sexual violence. This section also contains information on the importance of proving all the statutory elements of the crime; the definition of "consent"; and a listing of all of the tribal, state, and federal sexual assault statutes.

The Tribal Law and Policy tab contains information on tribal sexual assault laws and procedures. This section includes a compilation of tribal sexual violence statutes; a collection of tribal case law and precedent about sexual violence; a discussion and anthology about tribal rules of evidence and admissibility; information and resources about introducing tribal custom and tradition in tribal courts; information about tribal court prosecutions; and resources about tribal law enforcement.

The Federal Law and Policy tab contains information on federal laws and procedures addressing sexual violence in Indian Country.  Also included are a compilation of major federal laws affecting victims of sexual violence in Indian Country;  a compilation of federal agencies' policies concerning sexual assault and sexual violence; information and resources discussing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA);  information and resources discussing the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA);  information and resources discussing the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 (TLOA);  a collection of major federal case law affecting sexual assault victims in Indian Country;  information and resources concerning the federal rules of evidence and admissibility of evidence during a federal court proceeding;  information and discussion about federal sentencing and federal sentencing guidelines;  and information and discussion about the Federal Rules of Procedure.  

The Sex Offenders tab contains information on sex offender management and registration laws and includes resources on sex offender zoning laws ans best practices for sex offender management.

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) has information and resources, including the full text of the statute, about federal sex offender registration requirements and criminal penalties for failure to register.  Significantly, every time a sex offender moves, he must register in the new jurisdiction and follow the jurisdiction's reporting and registration requirements.  With this in mind, the State Sex Offender Registration Laws tab contains a compilation of every state's registration and notification laws, including charts simplifying the statutory text.  Similarly, the Tribal Sex Offender Registration Laws tab contains a compilation of resources on tribal sex offender registration laws. 

There are also numerous, useful resources under the Protection Orders tab. This tab provides a basic explanation of protection orders, including the preferred drafting of a protection order. Also, under this tab, the reader will find a detailed explanation about Full Faith and Credit, discussing how to a Tribal protection order must be enforced by states and vice versa. To aid the reader in their exploration of this topic, there is a compilation of state and tribal protection order and full faith and credit statues.

A key legal topic in aiding victims is informing them of their rights. Accordingly, the Victim Rights tab contains numerous resources and discussions about Victim Rights.  This includes the full text of federal victim rights statutes such as the Crime Victim Rights Act (CVRA) and the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and state and tribal victim rights statutes.

Also, under the Public Law 280 tab, the reader will find information and resources about Public Law 280.  This includes the full text of the statute and a discussion of its meaning and repercussions.  This tab also contains statutes affecting victims of sexual violence from the mandatory Public Law 280 states: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

Under the Civil Law tab, the reader will learn that the victim has many legal options against sexual assault perpetrators in civil courts.  Under this tab, the reader can read about tribal civil court jurisdiction and about how tribal courts can have jurisdiction over sexual assault perpetrators, regardless of whether the perpetrator is enrolled in a federally-recognized tribe.  Also, a victim has the power to sue the perpetrator in tribal court for all monetary and emotional damages that arise from the assault.  The reader can learn more about this under the Torts and Creative Civil Remedies tabs.

Furthermore, tribal court has the power to hold any perpetrator in civil contempt for violating a protection order, and the reader can find information and resources about civil contempt under the Contempt of Court tab.  Finally, if the victim is married to the perpetrator or has a preexisting romantic relationship with the perpetrator, there can be many other negative repercussions for the perpetrator in civil court.  The reader can learn more about these repercussions under The reader can learn more about these repercussions under the Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support, and Child Visitation tabs.

Furthermore, the negative impact of sexual assault upon the victim does not just have long-term physical affects, but it can also have long-term negative financial effects.  There is a wide spectrum of potential financial implications upon the victim, and under the Financial tab, the reader can learn more about this.  For example, under the Student Loans tab, the reader can learn more about the impact of sexual assault upon the victim’s student loan repayment obligations.  Similarly, sexual assault can have a negative impact upon the victim’s standing with the Internal Revenue Service and other financial institutions.  Thus, under the Taxes and the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) tab, the reader can learn more about the laws and rules that impact victims’ taxes.  Finally, the financial effects of sexual abuse can be so catastrophic that the victim may have to file for bankruptcy.  There are resources discussing the law and rules surrounding bankruptcy and consumer loans under the Bankruptcy and Consumer Loans tab.

Additionally, a victim’s status as a victim of rape or domestic violence could have implications upon her rights to housing.  For example, federal housing law prohibits landlords from denying federal housing benefits to victims of stalking or domestic violence because of the abuse.  Furthermore, many women have been able to successfully argue that rape or domestic violence are specifically female problems and thus evicting a woman for being a victim of rape or domestic violence violates the anti-discrimination provisions of the Fair Housing Act.  These federal protections of victims’ housing benefits are discussed further under the Federal Housing Laws Affecting Victims tab. Furthermore, many states secure additional rights for victims in addition to victims’ federal rights. These are discussed further under the State Housing Laws Affecting Victims tab.

Moreover, it is important to note that most victims of sexual violence are also victims of stalking.  Stalking can encompass many different bad behaviors, including the perpetrator: physically following the victim, calling the victim on the phone, sending the victim letters or packages through the mail or through a courier, bombarding the victim with emails or instant messages, photographing the victim from a distance or with hidden cameras, installing surveillance software on the victim’s computer, or using global positioning systems (GPS) to track the victim’s car.   Regardless of the method the perpetrator chooses to use, the correlation between stalking and sexual violence is significant.  First, because tribal courts can only sentence perpetrators to one year imprisonment per crime, adding an additional count of stalking to the indictment could significantly increase the amount of punishment the perpetrator must serve.  Second, a conviction for stalking against the perpetrator may increase the amount of benefits the victim receives.  Under the Stalking tab, the reader will find significant discussion and resources about stalking and its correlation with sexual violence.