Statutes | 4 HCC § 5 Chapter I § 2 | 2020

a. Domestic violence is detrimental to the general welfare of the Ho-Chunk Nation as mandated in the preamble of the Constitution of the Ho-Chunk Nation.

 

b. Domestic abuse is a serious crime against the victim, family, and the Nation.

 

c. Rules and regulations against domestic abuse must be administered in a consistent and fair manner.

 

d. Many persons are subjected to abuse and violence within the family and clan setting.

 

e. Family members are at risk to be killed or suffer serious physical injury as a result of abuse and violence within the family and clan setting.

 

f. Children suffer lasting emotional damage as direct targets of abuse and violence, and by witnessing the infliction of abuse and violence on other family and clan members.

 

g. The elderly Ho-Chunk residents are at risk for abuse and violence, the lack of services available for these citizens, and the changing family structure indicates that laws  are necessary to insure the protection of elders within the family and clan setting, and in their caretaking settings.

 

h. All persons have the right to live free from violence, abuse, or harassment.

 

i. Abuse and violence in all its forms poses a major health and law enforcement problem to the Ho-Chunk Nation.

 

j. Abuse and violence can be prevented, reduced, and deterred through the intervention of law.

 

k. The legal system&rsquos efforts to prevent abuse and violence in the family and clan setting will result in a reduction of negative behavior outside the family and clan setting.

 

l. Abuse and violence among family and clan members is not just a &ldquofamily matter,&rdquo which justified inaction by law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, or courts, but an illegal encounter which requires full application of protective laws and remedies.

 

m. An increased awareness of abuse and violence, and a need for its prevention, gives rise to the legislative intent to provide maximum protection to victims of abuse and violence in the family and clan setting.

 

n. The integrity of the family, clan, Ho-Chunk culture and society can be maintained by legislative efforts to remedy abuse and violence.