Lawless
Sexual Violence in Alaska
The Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica are investigating sexual violence in Alaska, and why the situation isn’t getting better.
Trapped at Sea, Alone With Her Assailant, He Told Her “You’re Mine for the Week”
Cathleen was raped five hours into a multi-day fishing trip, where she and the captain who assaulted her were the only ones on board. She begged to be taken back to shore, but he said no, they had work to do.
Giving Voice to Alaska’s Unheard Sexual Assault Survivors
We’re publishing our most ambitious effort yet to give voice to those who have been sexually assaulted in Alaska. We have talked to hundreds of survivors over the past year who have shared their stories.
How Photographers Sought to Redefine the Image of Alaska’s Sexual Assault Survivors
In capturing these photographs, the aim was to portray the underlying courage and strength of each person and to focus on who they had become.
Here’s What Experts Say to Do After Experiencing Sexual Assault
We consulted six professionals in Alaska who work with survivors of sexual assault, including a therapist, a law enforcement officer, advocates for survivors, a nurse and a prosecutor. We compiled their guidance on the choices survivors can make.
How We Worked With Survivors of Sexual Assault in Alaska to Tell Their Stories
Journalists from ProPublica and the Anchorage Daily News spent months hearing from, and listening to, dozens of survivors about how they processed their trauma. Here’s how we told these stories fairly and accurately.
An Elementary School Repeatedly Dismissed Allegations Against Its Principal. Then, an FBI Agent Pretended to Be a 13-Year-Old Girl.
The principal for one of Alaska’s largest rural elementary schools, in a region with some of the highest sex crime rates in the country and a state with a history of failing to protect students, was allowed to remain on the job until the FBI got involved.
ProPublica and Local Reporting Partner Anchorage Daily News Win Pulitzer Prizes for National Reporting and Public Service
The two designations are ProPublica’s 6th Pulitzer win in 12 years and the first Pulitzer awarded to a Local Reporting Network partner.
Sex Offenders Were Becoming Cops. After Our Stories, Alaska’s Governor Wants That To End.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed law comes after Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica found that dozens of rural Alaskan police officers had been hired despite criminal convictions.
Alaska’s Public Safety Officer Program Is Failing. Can It Be Saved?
A big part of Alaska’s law enforcement crisis is a program that recruits residents of remote villages and trains them to work as police. Now, a group of state legislators is proposing nine ideas to rescue the program.
How a Police Officer in Iowa Helped Protect an Alaskan Police Force — From Thousands of Miles Away
He read our story about Alaska’s policing problems and began raising money to send supplies to the small Police Department in Savoonga. His efforts may save his fellow officers’ lives.
In Search of Solutions to Alaska’s Law Enforcement Crisis
We spent a year investigating how Alaska’s sexual violence crisis is compounded by a lack of law enforcement. Now, we’re looking at the system and how it can be fixed.
We Found Villages That Hired Criminals as Cops. Now Officials Want It To Change.
The Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica found small Alaska cities have employed police whose criminal records should have prevented them from being hired. Now, the state board is working to ensure they meet basic hiring standards.
Alaska’s Law Enforcement Crisis Is a Public Emergency. Here’s How Experts Want to Fix It.
More than a third of Alaska communities have no local police of any kind. Criminals have been hired as cops in some remote villages. A federal emergency has been declared and millions of dollars are promised, but here’s what else experts recommend.
These Cops are Supposed to Protect Rural Villages. They’re in the Suburbs Instead.
Many remote Alaska Native villages have no law enforcement at all. But state troopers can be found in wealthier, and mainly non-Native, suburbs, where growing communities have resisted paying for their own police department.
Alaska’s Uneven Rural Law Enforcement System Often Leaves Remote Villages With No Cops
A tiny Alaskan village got a police officer. He’s never had to make an arrest. Meanwhile, larger communities with more crime have often been left behind as the state’s two-tiered policing crisis gets worse.
After the Last Cop Killed Himself, All the Criminals Have to Do Is Hide
Days before his death in 2005, Simeon Askoak told officials how an Alaskan rural policing program was broken. His village hasn’t had another permanent cop since.
Justice Department Will Fund More Prosecutors, Jails and Cops in Rural Alaska
To improve what it calls a public safety emergency, the DOJ detailed how it will spend $10.5 million. Alaska Native advocates want long-term reforms to increase their role in local justice systems as well.
She Leapt From a Moving Car to Escape Her Rapist. Then, She Waited 18 Years for an Arrest.
Anna Sattler’s rape kit sat untested since 2001 as Alaska’s backlog got worse. Now, an ex-Iditarod musher faces charges, and she’s speaking publicly about the attack for the first time.
We’ve Heard From Nearly 300 Survivors of Sexual Assault in Alaska. But There Are More of You We’d Like to Reach.
We’re continuing to report on sexual violence and need your help with what’s next.
