NAIEM

Native American Identity Empowerment Movement

An average of 40% of the women who were victims of sex trafficking identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. When a group of people who are less than 3% of the population make up 40% of an issue, that indicates a systematic problem and calls for compassionate action.

Native American Identity Empowerment Movement (NAIEM) is an effort by Compassionate USA and Phenomenon210 to be a part of the solution. NAIEM works across generations with professionals, college students and high school students to spread the reach of compassion while advocating for our stolen indigenous sisters.

On Monday, March 4th at St. Mary’s University during the event America’s Shame: The Silent Tragedy of Indigenous Women, NAIEM was launched. As part of NAIEM, students will apply Compassionate USA's curriculum to the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women, thus actively learning how to affect systems for good by bringing compassion. Compassionate USA, Phenomenon210, Salelytics DIB/EBP and other like-minded professionals will collaborate to form a village of support around the students as they become “Phenomenal Compassionistas.”

Here are three stories of the 1.5 million American Indian and Alaska Native women who have experienced violence in their lifetime followed by potential solutions

Part 1:

In the early morning hours of March 31, 2023, Mika Josephine Westwolf, a 22-year-old Indigenous woman who was Diné, Cree, Klamath and a member of the Blackfeet Tribe, was struck and killed by a Cadillac Escalade while she was walking alongside U.S. Highway 93 just North of Arlee, Mont... read more

Part 2:

What began as a fun filled night at the casino ended in tragedy for Georginda Pierce, a 38-year-old Navajo woman who lives in Farmington, New Mexico, when her boyfriend stabbed her with a broken beer bottle leaving her with a gaping hole and paralyzing a section of her face... read more

Part 3:

Providing domestic abuse education to teenagers living on reservations, covering MMIW cases in the media, giving tribal law enforcement agencies the jurisdiction they need to effectively oversee their land and allowing Indigenous communities to relearn their core values are all things that can potentially help... read more

America’s Shame

The Silent Tragedy of Indigenous Women

A call to action met with a compassionate response