Champion of Indigenous victims of sexual violence

White Earth Reservation member Nicole Matthews (Anishinabe) received her Bachelor of Science degree in applied psychology, in human relations and multicultural education from St. Cloud State University.

Since 2002, Matthews has served as executive director of the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition (MIWSAC), a statewide non-profit alliance for American Indian sexual assault advocates. The organization provides oversight and administration to the statewide sexual assault tribal coalition and national technical assistance project.

MIWSAC states its mission as "to strengthen the voices of American Indian women in order to create awareness, influence social change, and reclaim the traditional values that honor the sovereignty of American Indian women and children. MIWSAC's vision is "to create safety and justice for Native women through the teachings of our grandmothers," and as such, works to eliminate sexual violence perpetrated against them.

As executive director, Matthews delivers fiscal, personnel, and general operations management. Her position also includes grant writing; human resources; tribal internal policy development; local and national training, and public speaking. Traveling to tribal communities across the country, she assists in developing and strengthening their response to Native victims of sexual assault.

Matthews has worked with members of the coalition to produce public service announcements, was invited to the White House to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and was a panelist at the Department of Justice with the U.S. Attorney General during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

As one of five researchers, Matthews and her team interviewed 105 Native American women used in prostitution and trafficking to prepare the report, Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota.

Since the release of the report, Matthews has spoken at many locations and venues, including New York City during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women events.

Prior to employment with MIWSAC, Matthews was sexual assault services coordinator for the Mille Lacs County (Minnesota) Pearl Crisis Center (1997-2002), where she provided overall coordination of the sexual assault services program, providing advocacy to victims of domestic and sexual violence.

As coordinator of the Women's Cultural Diversity Committee (1996-1997) at the St. Cloud State University Women's Center, Matthews directed multicultural dialogue sessions on campus, creating flyers and direct advocacy with victims of sexual violence.

Nicole Matthews credits her three children, Jazmin, Kiora and Kionte with giving her the strength and motivation to continue her work to end violence against women and children.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) reports on their website that, according to American Indians and Crime (released by the Department of Justice), American Indian women experience violence at a rate three-and-a-half times more often than the national average.

American Indigenous women are also frequent victims of sexual and domestic violence, and as women of color, experience institutionalized racism at a higher rate than any other group. Alex Wilson, researcher for the Native American group Indigenous Perspectives, found that Native American women were also more likely to be treated as untruthful when they reported crimes to law enforcement.

According to the American Indian Women's Chemical Health Project, in reservation communities, Indigenous women experience the highest levels of sexual and domestic abuse of any other group and that most remain silent in fear of being alienated by their families, cultural hindrances, mistrust of Euro-American dominated agencies, and a history of lack of action by tribal and state agencies to prosecute crimes against them.

Sources:

LinkedIn Profile Page

Minnesota Women Against Sexual Assault Coalition (MWASAC)

Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition (MIWSAC)

National Organization for Women (NOW) website

A version of this article appears in 100+ Native American Women Who Changed the World by KB Schaller, Winner, 2014, International Book Award, Women's Issues Category.

KB Schaller(Cherokee/Seminole heritage) is a journalist, researcher, novelist, and illustrator. Her books are available through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, and other bookstores. She lives in South Florida. Email: soaring-eagles@msn.com; http://www.KBSchaller.com