ABOUT
Like all crime victims, American Indian /Alaska Native victims need access to comprehensive services that meet their medical, mental health, financial, legal, spiritual, and other needs in a culturally appropriate manner. An overall systemic challenge is that well-intentioned legal systems have failed AI/AN victims of crime through erasure, invisibility, and re-traumatization.
This website and project is an initiative of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. The goal of this initiative is to equip program grantees, attorneys, and lay advocates that provide legal services to survivors on Tribal lands with training and practice improvement resources on topics core to supporting survivors navigating legal systems and collaborating effectively with Tribal victim advocates in a manner that is victim centered, trauma-informed, and culturally appropriate and specific.
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The need for training and technical assistance (TTA) for Tribal Legal Assistance Providers for Survivors (TLAPS) begins with dismal federal data that 56.1% of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women have experienced sexual violence and 55.5 % have experienced physical violence by an intimate partner.2 AI/AN women suffer domestic violence and physical assaults at rates higher than any other ethnicity. Exacerbating the occurrence of violence against AI/AN people is the lack of survivor access to needed services. The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) report, Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services, found that basic victim assistance and law enforcement are generally more available than legal assistance in AI/AN populations which is compounded by complex jurisdictional issues, cultural diversity of Tribes, and geographical remoteness of Tribal lands. Further, according to the 2010 findings from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, AI/AN female and male victims most commonly need medical care and legal services. Unfortunately, more than one in three AI/AN female victims (38%) and more than one in six AI/AN male victims (17%) were unable to access the services they needed.
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Tribal Legal Assistance is dedicated to providing a comprehensive range of resources to enhance the delivery of training and technical assistance. Our mission is to increase survivor and Tribal victim advocate access to the support and guidance they need. This is a place where you can find valuable information and tools to empower your work.​
Brief for National Network to End Domestic Violence et al. as Amici Curiae Supporting Respondents at 2, Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land and Cattle Co., 128 S. Ct. 2709 (2008) (No. 07-411); 2 Steven W Perry, American Indians and Crime: A BJS Statistical Profile 1992-2002, Bureau of Justice Statistics, US DOJ, OJP, December 2004. Accessed 3/1/24: https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/aic02.pdf.; see also Tjaden, P. &Thoennes. (2000). The Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women: findings from the National Violence Survey Against Women. National Institute of Justice & the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Accessed 3/1/24: www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles1/nij/183781.txt.
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Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services, US DOJ, OVC (May 2013) p.12-13, Accessed on 3/1/24: https://www.ovc.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh226/files/media/document/Vision21_Report.pdf.
OUR TEAM
Meet the dedicated individuals who drive our mission forward.
Bonnie Clairmont
Victim Advocacy Specialist
Bonnie was the recipient of OVC’s national crime victim service award in 1995, worked for more than 25 years as a victim advocate for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and human sex trafficking. Her experiences include creating, coordinating, and facilitating training to promote multidisciplinary collaboration amongst advocates, attorneys, law enforcement, healthcare professionals. Bonnie has authored/co-authored or provided assistance on numerous publications and resources.
Kelly Stoner
Victim Advocacy Legal Specialist
Kelly has over two decades of extensive direct legal experience as a Tribal prosecutor and Tribal judge in addition to experience training future attorneys/law students, attorneys, and lay advocates including directing two law school clinical programs dedicated to representing Tribal victims of violence and survivors on Tribal lands. Kelly trains regularly for the American Bar Association (ABA) on a variety of topics including child custody and currently sits on the ABA Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence. Kelly has authored/co-authored numerous TLPI and ABA publications.
Heather Torres
Program Director
Heather brings almost 5 years’ experience in managing TLPI’s contractual work and subawards pertaining to responding to victimization in Tribal communities. She leads the development of TLPI’s legally focused and victim advocacy related TTA resources in addition to assisting with onsite and virtual one on one TTA delivery. Heather has authored/co-authored numerous TLPI and ABA publications and resources.
Abby Chavez
Assistant Program Specialist
Abby assists in facilitation of TLPI TTA delivery activities from initial planning to reporting. She has set up virtual trainings on various platforms including Zoom, Wix websites, and more. Abby has 4+ years’ experience creating, tracking, and executing large scale outreach and TTA delivery plans including a previous OVW project, Strengthening Tribal Response. Most recently, Abby co-created TLPI’s latest comprehensive website, www.TribalVAWA.org. Abby graduated from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Minnesota.