HR 40
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2021
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
Ken Cooley, Chair
HR 40 (Ramos) – As Introduced April 26, 2021
SUBJECT: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Awareness Month.
SUMMARY: Designates the month of May 2021 as California’s Missing and Murdered
Indigenous Women and Girls Awareness Month. Specifically, this resolution makes the
following legislative findings:
1) In 2016, 5,712 missing and murdered indigenous cases were reported to the National Crime
Information Center.
2) According to a study conducted on behalf of the United States Department of Justice, in
some tribal communities, indigenous women face murder rates 10 times higher than the
national average. No such study exists for urban areas.
3) Little data exists on the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, and
data that is available is incomplete and inadequate. The data that does exist on this issue
focuses primarily on indigenous women living on reservations, despite approximately 70
percent of native people living in urban cities.
4) According to the first report conducted by the Urban Indian Health Institute in 2018 on
missing and murdered indigenous women in urban cities, the victims were 18 years of age or
younger in 27 percent of the cases; and, the average age for missing and murdered
indigenous women was 29.
5) California has the sixth highest death rate of indigenous women in urban cities.
6) According to census data, California has the largest population of American Indians, more
than any other state in the country.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: Michael Erke / RLS. / (916) 319-2800