WASHINGTON - Amnesty International is set to introduce a report in Washington about the disproportionate rate of Native American and Alaskan women who are raped.

Native American and Alaska Native women in the United States suffer disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence, the release said.

And yet the government has created barriers that make justice very hard to achieve for these crimes, the group said. That is a key reason for the 113-page report Amnesty International will release Tuesday at the National Press Club.

There will be Alaskan and Native American women's spokespeople there to describe the true issue that is faced and also to urge the government to take action and change.

The United States has tribal, state and federal jurisdictions that often make it difficult to charge for these crimes and sometimes even allegedly encourage assaults, said the release.

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