Yet Freddie Oversteegen and her sister Truus, two years her senior, were rare exceptions — a pair of teenage women who took up arms against Nazi occupiers and Dutch “traitors” on the outskirts of Amsterdam. With Hannie Schaft, a onetime law student with fiery red hair, they sabotaged bridges and rail lines with dynamite, shot Nazis while riding their bikes, and donned disguises to smuggle Jewish children across the country and sometimes out of concentration camps.
In perhaps their most daring act, they seduced their targets in taverns or bars, asked if they wanted to “go for a stroll” in the forest — and “liquidated” them, as Ms. Oversteegen put it, with a pull of the trigger. (source)
One night several years ago, a man on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana held his partner against her will, beat her, and then choked her until she passed out.
After she came to, she escaped and informed law enforcement about what happened. This incident wasn’t the first; the man had a history of domestic violence and abuse. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
The woman found help at the Blackfeet Domestic Violence Program and tried to move on with her life. But this year, her ex was released from prison and returned to his home on the reservation.
He was told to stay away from her, says the program’s lead advocate Marilyn Gobert, but the woman still fears for her life.
This case is not unique – it’s one of hundreds Gobert sees a year, a small glimpse into the sexual violence epidemic that has plagued tribal communities for as long as she can remember.
A new Department of Justice study shows that of over 2,000 women surveyed, 84 percent of Native American and Alaskan Native women have experienced violence, 56 percent have experienced sexual violence, and, of that second group, over 90 percent have experienced violence at the hands of a non-tribal member.
Most women reported they were concerned for their safety, and around half said they had experienced physical violence like pushing, shoving, or being beaten.
Over 60 percent had experienced psychological aggression or coercive control. Experts say these record numbers still underestimate the number of women affected by violence, and the infrastructure for women to report and handle incidents is underfunded.
