Cloquet's Lamb on state task force

Ward 2 Cloquet city councilor Sheila Lamb has been appointed to the state's newly created Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women task force.

She was sworn in and attended her first task force meeting in St. Paul on Thursday, Sept. 19.

The mission of the task force is to reduce and end violence against indigenous women and girls in Minnesota.

Lamb said she was "thrilled" to be asked to serve on the task force, which includes representatives from tribal nations and law enforcement.

"The fact that we (Minnesota) are ninth in the nation [for missing and murdered indigenous women], this is important work," Lamb said. "Per the United Nations and other sources, millions of children are sex trafficked and only 1 percent are ever saved. Trafficking accounts for a large percent of the missing. Domestic violence accounts for numbers of the murdered."

Lamb said women in the Native population have this happen at a higher rate and it is underreported.

Task force members will spend more than a year examining the causes behind the violence and then make recommendations aimed at helping victims and their families heal. Included in their mandate is a review of data collection and policies at institutions ranging from child welfare services to coroners' offices.

"Indigenous women are targeted for a multitude of reasons," Lamb told the Pine Knot. She rattled off reasons the population is vulnerable, including "historical trauma, low income, gangs, broken homes, drug use, so many in foster care" and more. "And they can be passed off as Asian, Polynesian, etc."

The city councilor said she has worked with trafficked and at-risk youth, searched with families for missing women, and worked within the area navigating government systems for families.

Lamb made regional news last month when she made a motion - approved and subsequently reversed - that the city council reject a donation from Enbridge Energy due to concerns about increased sex trafficking if the pipeline goes through.

"My hopes for the task force is a long list," Lamb said.

Following are a few of the highlights from her list.

• She'd like to see changes in legislation to address the causes of missing and murdered indigenous women, such as higher penalties for those trafficking or purchasing sex and those involved in pornography of minors, etc.

• She hopes for better data, response times, and alerts when an indigenous person goes missing. Education of communities on missing and murdered indigenous women and related causes such as human trafficking.

• Eliminating disparities in affected communities and indigenous populations.

• Finding those who are missing or murdered so that families have closure and people are saved. Trauma-informed care training for all officers, medical professionals, fire departments, those in social services and foster care, training of teachers, etc.

• Better identification in schools of students who are at risk with prevention protocols not only being made, but seeing that schools adhere to those protocols.

The task force is set to expire Dec. 31, 2020.