OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington State Legislature unanimously passed a bill on Monday, March 7th, to create an alert system for missing Indigenous women.
Similar to the “silver alerts” Washingtonians already receive, the new system will broadcast information about missing Indigenous women through highway signs, advisory radio messages and press releases.
Indigenous people have higher disappearance and murder rates than any other ethnic group in the U.S. and Indigenous women go missing four times more often than white women in Washington.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who proposed the bill, says it will be the first of its kind in the U.S.
The bill now heads to Governor Inslee to sign.