Thousands of Native American women and girls disappear or are killed each year. These women and girls vanish from tribal lands, rural communities, and cities with no official accounting. TRB will conduct a webinar on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM Eastern that will explore the unique mobility patterns of Native Americans as they travel from rural tribal territories to urban centers. Certain social structures have made mobility difficult for indigenous women and girls, and as a result, there are inadequate accounts of human trafficking from this community. Presenters will discuss current federal Indian laws and tribal guidelines that may affect human trafficking, identify the social determinants and risk factors of murdered and missing indigenous women, and describe the critical issues of human sex trafficking with regards to tribal jurisdiction.

This webinar was organized by the TRB Standing Committee on Native American Transportation Issues.

There is no fee for this webinar. However, sign into MyTRB.org to view registration information.

Webinar agenda and presenters

1. Statistics of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW): Margo Hill, Eastern Washington University
2. Federal Indian law: Margo Hill, Eastern Washington University
3. Mobility patterns of indigenous women and girls: Kristen Joyner, Southwest Transit Association
4. Social determinants and risk factors for MMIW: Kristen Joyner, Southwest Transit Association
5. Critical issues of tribal jurisdiction in human sex trafficking: Kristen Joyner, Southwest Transit Association
6. Tribal guidelines for treatment of human trafficking victims: Margo Hill, Eastern Washington University
7. Question and answer session: Moderated by Ron Hall, Bubar & Hall Consulting, LLC

The first 60 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Understand federal Indian law and policy
2. Identify how transportation and transit officials can prevent human trafficking
3. Describe the mobility of indigenous women and girls in rural and tribal communities and provide safe alternatives