Whereas American Indians and Alaska Natives are 2.5 times more likely to experience violent crimes and at least 2 times more likely to experience rape or sexual assault crimes compared to any other group of people in the United States; Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that homicide is the third leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women between 10 and 24 years of age and the fifth leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women between 25 and 34 years of age; Whereas in some Tribal communities, American Indian women face murder rates that are more than 10 times the national average; Whereas there is little data that exists on the number of missing and murdered Native women and girls in the United States due to complex jurisdictional issues at the Tribal, State, and Federal levels; Whereas investigation into cases of missing and murdered Native women and girls is made difficult for Tribal law enforcement agencies due to a lack of resources and the complex jurisdictional scheme that exists in Indian country; Whereas violence as a lived experience of Native women exists in less pressing times, and it is expected that the COVID–19 pandemic will increase the prevalence of violence that is experienced by Native women by exacerbating already existing issues including: lack of safe housing for victims, lack of space in shelters for victims to maintain safe social distancing, lack of personal protective equipment for staff of Tribal shelters and victim services programs, limited transportation for victims, and lack of access to adequate health care