Mitchell Hamline Professor Sarah Deer’s book “The Beginning and End of Rape” has continued to garner awards since it was released seven months ago.
The latest honor, announced in late May, is the 2016 Victoria Schuck Award from the American Political Science Association. The award is given annually to an author writing about women and politics.
Deer’s book, written over the course of a decade, is a collection of powerful essays on the experiences of Native American women with sexual violence.
“Writing ‘The Beginning and End of Rape’ was difficult due to the subject matter,” Deer said. “I wasn’t sure how it would be received, but I wanted a book that would make a difference in the movement to end sexual violence. Receiving recognition in the way of book awards was really the furthest thing from my mind. I am so grateful that the book has been well-received by the academic community.”
Also in May, the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association named Deer’s work the Best First Book in Native American and Indigenous Studies published in 2015. And in March, Deer won the 8th Annual Labriola Center American Indian National Book Award.
Deer is co-director of Mitchell Hamline’s Indian Law Program; a longtime advocate for reform in federal, state, and tribal laws dealing with rape; and one of the nation’s leading legal experts on Native American rights.
Her book casts a light on the persistent problem of sexual assault for Native women.
Federal data estimate 1 in 3 Native American women will be raped in their lifetime, two-and-a-half times more likely than women in the national population. Deer fears the rate is much higher, perhaps 80 to 90 percent in some areas, because many cases go unreported.
She proposes tribal leaders and governments be given more freedom to enact strong anti-rape measures and not have to rely on a confusing mix of federal, state, and tribal jurisdictions to respond to claims of sexual violence.
Deer also wants all women in Native America to have access to advocacy programs, to help them deal with the trauma of sexual violence or prevent it all together.