Awareness | Maddesyn George

Victims Matter, ALWAYS!

Oftentimes victims of abuse are degraded, misused, misunderstood and mocked for how they feel, their actions and the way they try recovering from their trauma. Their abuser is almost always given a pass with support. We continue to fight for victims of all forms of abuse. Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Rape, Harassment, Verbal, Emotional and Physical.

( UPDATE )

Maddesyn is a 27-year-old Native woman and mother from the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington State and a survivor of domestic and sexual violence. She has been jailed for more than a year for defending herself against a white man who raped her and threatened her life. She is facing as many as seventeen years in a federal prison in California, more than 1,000 miles from her sixteen-month-old daughter, family, and community.

In July 2020, Maddesyn was raped by a white man whom she had previously considered a friend. After the rape, she took the gun he had threatened to shoot her with and fled for safety. When the man found Maddesyn the next morning, the two struggled over the gun and Maddesyn fired a fatal shot. She immediately called 911. She told the police the details of the rape and of the man’s threats on her life. Multiple witnesses confirmed her account of the shooting.

Maddesyn was booked into Colville Tribal Corrections and never given access to medical attention or a rape kit. The Colville Tribal Prosecutor’s Office charged her with criminal homicide. Maddesyn argued that she acted in self-defense and the charges were ultimately dismissed in tribal court. However, because the shooting occurred on a reservation, federal prosecutors exercised their jurisdiction to bring new charges against Maddesyn. She has since been held without bail in the Spokane County Jail.

Maddesyn’s mother has hired a criminal defense attorney and is caring for Maddesyn’s infant daughter. The costs of legal representation, raising a child, jail commissary, and other related expenses are significant. Any financial help is deeply appreciated by the family.

Maddesyn now faces as many as seventeen years in federal prison. The closest federal prison for women is in California, more than 1,000 miles from her sixteen-month-old daughter, family, and community.

Maddesyn has been punished for saving her own life. Members of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Washington point to the prosecution as a part of a colonial legacy of gendered violence against Indigenous women. According to the National Institute of Justice (2016), more than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native people have experienced some form of violence, and more than half of American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced sexual violence. For these survivors, criminal legal systems more often neglect or exacerbate harm rather than provide support and reparation. This is in part because reservation lands are subject to a “jurisdictional maze” that diminishes tribes’ ability to hold non-Native people accountable for harms perpetuated on their lands. The federal Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2021, if passed, will expand tribal jurisdiction in cases related to gendered violence. Washington State recently passed legislation to increase reporting and investigation of cases of missing and murdered indigenous women. However, much more is needed to end violence against Indigenous women, including support for criminalized survivors like Maddesyn.

Now we need all of Maddesyn's supporters to call or email the DOJ and help make noise on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook so they can't ignore us. Sample phone and email scripts, tweets, posts, and graphics can be found in this toolkit: bit.ly/oct4maddesyn

Ways to Help!

Ways To Help Maddesyn...

Website: www.freemaddesyn.com

Sign: change.org/freemaddesyngeorge

Ask your organization to endorse: freemaddesyn.com/endorse

Donate: bit.ly/maddesyngeorgefundraiser

Now we need all of Maddesyn's supporters to call or email the DOJ and help make noise on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook so they can't ignore us. Sample phone and email scripts, tweets, posts, and graphics can be found in this toolkit: bit.ly/oct4maddesyn

Statement From Our CEO / Founder

I'm extremely saddened about the situation of Maddesyn George. A woman, Mother, Daughter, Friend, and victim of domestic and se*ual violence. Wrongly charged for defending herself against her abuser. I stand with her in the fight for her freedom. Victims should never be punished for defending themselves, ever! I hope the Department of Justice can see how important it is to believe and stand up for victims like Maddesyn. - A'oleon Ka'Wazay