Black women six times more likely to be killed than white women: Report

Black women are six times more likely to be murdered than white women, a new report finds.

the study, Published in the medical journal “Lancet” Thursday analyzed homicide rates for women ages 25 to 44 in 30 different states from 1999 to 2020.

According to the study, black women are more likely than white women to be killed by shootings, stabbings, mutilations, and other types of violence.

Black women are more likely to be killed by guns than white women.

The largest disparity was found in Wisconsin, where black women were 20 times more likely to be murdered than white women in 2019-2020.

Bernadine Waller, the paper’s lead author, called the disparity “heartbreaking.”

“As a researcher who studies intimate partner violence, I have long known that there are disparities in homicide rates between black and white women,” said Waller, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health. said in a statement.

“Revealing that black women are murdered at rates as high as 20 to 1 in some states is heartbreaking, and substantial structural change is urgently needed. It highlights.”

The report revealed that intimate partner violence is a key factor behind homicide rates among Black women.

The findings are consistent with data from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, which found that approximately 45 percent of black women experience stalking, physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. An estimated 51 percent of adult homicides of Black women were related to their intimate partner violence.

The data shows homicide rates have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also comes amid nationwide protests following the police killing of George Floyd.

The paper’s lead author, Catherine Keyes, said the two incidents were not connected.

“These trends reflect a system that has long disproportionately served communities of color,” said Keyes, a professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. “It underscores that sustained investment and vision to support is essential to reversing racial injustices that impact health and well-being.” at Columbia University.

The study found that inequality was widest across the Midwest. Outside of Wisconsin, Black women in the Midwest were more than seven times more likely to be murdered than white women in 2020.

However, racial disparities were also higher in areas where people of lower socio-economic status lived. These are the same areas with a history of racial violence such as lynching, the report found.

Victoria A. Joseph, co-author of the paper, said focusing on America’s history of structural racism is “essential” to addressing disparities.

“Efforts aimed at reducing the disproportionate homicide deaths of Black women need to be focused on the structural and This can be achieved by addressing the role of racial discrimination.” at the Mailman School of Public Health and Epidemiology.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which was not involved in the study, said all these murders are preventable.

Rebecca F. Wilson and Janet M. Blair of the CDC said, “Waller et al.’s findings raise the bar for addressing the public health crisis of femicide and the disparities in homicide experienced by Black women. “It provides the visibility we need.”

They added that state-level legislation is needed to address disparities.

“These legislative efforts offer a glimmer of hope that the unjustified murders of Black women will be addressed as an epidemic-sized crisis, alongside the already acknowledged epidemic of homicide among Black men and boys. ” they said.