Deadly violence against Black women persists in the U.S.

A new report by the United Nations (UN) reveals that femicide—the most extreme form of violence against women and girls—is still pervasive globally. Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely than white women to be killed by a domestic partner or family member.

Released by UN Women and the UN Office of Drug Control, “Femicides in 2023: Global Estimates of Intimate Partner/Family Member Femicides,” noted that 85,000 women and girls were killed intentionally, with 60 percent of these homicides (51,100) committed by an intimate partner or family member accounting for 60 percent of all female homicides. In too many cases, victims of femicide had previously reported violence and their killings could have been prevented. With that said, the UN says 140 women and girls are killed every day by someone they know, equating to one every 10 minutes. 

“Violence against women and girls is not inevitable—it is preventable. We need robust legislation, improved data collection, greater government accountability, a zero-tolerance culture, and increased funding for women’s rights organizations and institutional bodies. As we approach the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 2025, it is time for world leaders to unite and act with urgency, recommit, and channel the resources needed to end this crisis once and for all,” said Sima Bahous, UN Women executive director, in a statement.

UN Women, formally known as the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, is based in New York, and was established in July 2010 to accelerate progress on meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide. 

In addition to eliminating violence against women, the agency ensures women’s rights are protected and promoted globally by promoting access to education, employment, political participation and leadership and economic viability.

The UN report comes at a chilling time in Chicago where advocates, journalists, public officials, and grieving relatives have decried the disappearance, unsolved deaths, attacks and domestic homicides against African American women and girls. The resounding cry seems to be that unlike cases involving other races, that when Black women “go missing” or are killed, the public response is either lackadaisical, slow, or non-existent.

The same can be said for their children. Black children make up about 33 percent of all missing child cases. The FBI noted there were 375,304 reported entries for missing children in 2023, meaning 123,850 were African American. Despite the shocking number and the pleas from their families, research published in Communication Research Reports found that in 2015 missing Black children only compromised 7 percent of media references. 

There is even more disturbing data.

The Invisible Institute and City Bureau released an analysis of police data that showed that of the nearly 340,000 missing persons cases in Chicago between 2000 and 2021, Black children made up 57 percent of all incidents. Black girls between the ages of 10 and 20 made up nearly one-third of all missing person cases in the city despite comprising only 2 percent of the city population as of 2020.

An additional analysis of more than 20 years of crime data, by local CBS journalist Dorothy Tucker last fall, revealed in 2022 that nearly 30 percent of all crime victims were Black women, even though they make up just 16 percent of the city’s entire population. African American women in Chicago also represented 24 percent of property theft victims, 38 percent of battery victims, and 40 percent of rape victims.

Tucker’s report came two years after noted journalist and Roosevelt University professor John W. Fountain released “The Unforgotten: The Untold Stories of Murdered Chicago Women,” chronicling hundreds of cases of missing and/or murdered Black women and girls that had gone unsolved and unnoticed by mainstream media. His groundbreaking investigative series sparked conversations across the country and inspired other local reporters to pick up the banner of missing and murdered Black women and build off of Fountain’s work.

“The facts don’t lie. Black women are murdered at twice the rate of women of other races in the United States,” Fountain wrote in 2021. “Indeed, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis of female homicide statistics between 2003 and 2014, Black and indigenous women were killed as a result of homicide at rates more than double women of other races.

“That speaks nothing of the vast well-documented disparity in the media’s coverage of murdered Black women versus the coverage of murdered white women,” he said.

Recently, the cases of two local women who were killed or brutally attacked despite seeking orders of protection, has renewed the call for stronger protections for women. 

On November 19th, Lacramioara Beldie, who is white, was fatally stabbed by her estranged husband, Constantin Beldie, in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago. Despite her repeated attempts to obtain protection, including an emergency order of protection in January and another in October, the judge, Thomas Nowinski, denied the request to hold Constantin in custody. Instead, he was released on electronic monitoring.

Beldie’s murder has sparked significant outrage and calls for Nowinski to be reassigned, as advocates argue that electronic monitoring is insufficient in domestic violence cases. 

On March 13th of this year,  11-year-old Jayden was fatally stabbed while trying to protect his pregnant mother from an attack by her ex-boyfriend, Crosetti Brand, who had been released on parole just a day before the incident. 

The child’s mother, Laterria Smith, an African American, was eight months pregnant and was also stabbed multiple times but survived the attack. The woman had not been notified that Brand had been released from state custody, despite being denied an order of protection by Nowinski despite the man having a history of repeatedly violating previous protection prior to his incarceration for theft.

In the aftermath, LeAnn Miller, a member of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, resigned after public pressure. The judge remains seated.

As tragic and heartbreaking as those two cases are, Black  women in the U.S. have always faced disproportionate rates of domestic violence. More than 40 percent of African American women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime, compared to 31.5 percent of all women. 

Additionally, Black women are 2.5 times more likely to be murdered by men than white women, with 92 percent of these killings committed by a current or former intimate partner, according to the City of Chicago’s own findings. In other words, the vast majority of African American female murder victims knew their killers and were either actively or formerly in intimate or familial relationships with them. Why are so many women between the ages of 15 and 45 being killed by people they loved, married, dated, had children with or strong family ties? The answers may lie in a complex understanding of effects of white supremacy, internalized helplessness and self-hatred, misogyny, childhood trauma, poverty, the proliferation of negative and anti-Black female stereotypes, among other social ills.

According to a University of Illinois Chicago’s research center which focuses on women’s concerns, issues such as racism, patriarchy, and other systems of oppression have created dynamics that render Black women vulnerable to domestic violence at alarming rates while remaining unprotected.

“Economic (in)dependence plays a significant role in how women respond to domestic violence. Given that Black women are disproportionately working in low-paying jobs and have less access to economic self-reliance, their opportunities to leave abusive relationships and/or home environments are diminished,” the center noted.

 “Black women’s access to protection has also been jeopardized by police violence against their communities. Often, Black women feel unsafe to seek state protection because they fear the consequences of police interventions for themselves (e.g., being abused by the police, being arrested, or killed) or for their abusers.”

In Chicago, the homicide rate remains alarmingly high, particularly for Black residents. In 2023, the homicide rate for Black residents was 20 times higher than for white residents. The city saw 511 homicides in 2024, with young Black women being among the victims. In 2020, for example, Chicago experienced 101 domestic-related homicides, and most of those victims were Black women.

In October of this year, advocates and domestic violence survivors attended an emergency hearing before the Chicago City Council where they blasted local officials, police agencies and others for not doing enough to protect them. Alderwoman Stephanie Coleman (16th Ward) is leading the city’s efforts to address the issue and has organized a taskforce.

Globally, women and girls everywhere continue to be affected by this extreme form of gender-based violence and no region is excluded. With an estimated 21,700 victims of intimate partner/family member femicide in 2023.

The UN also reported that the highest number of victims of intimate partner/family member femicide was recorded in Africa in 2023 with 21,700 (18,600–24,600) victims, followed by Asia with 18,500 (16,200–20,700), the Americas with 8,300 (8,100–8,500), Europe with 2,300 (2,100–2,400) and Oceania with 300 (282–420) victims. 

Africa continues to record the highest number of victims in aggregate terms, although it is advisable to interpret the regional estimates with caution, as they are subject to significant uncertainty given persistent limitations in terms of data availability,” UN Women said.

Ghada Waly, executive director of UNODC, highlighted the urgent need for strong criminal justice systems that hold perpetrators accountable and ensure support for survivors.

“The new femicide report highlights the urgent need for strong criminal justice systems that hold perpetrators accountable, while ensuring adequate support for survivors, including access to safe and transparent reporting mechanisms,” said Waly. “At the same time, we must confront and dismantle the gender biases, power imbalances, and harmful norms that perpetuate violence against women.”

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is a United Nations office established in 1997. It was created by merging the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations Office at Vienna. The office was renamed to UNODC in 2002.

Its core mission includes combating drug trafficking and abuse through policy, law enforcement, and community-based initiatives; strengthening criminal justice systems worldwide to prevent and address crime; preventing public and private sector corruption; and addressing international terrorism.

In 2023, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced an expansion of the Emergency Fund for Gender Based Violence (GBV) Survivors and distributed an additional $5 million, from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), as part of the Mayor’s Road to Recovery Plan. The added money will  enhance the fund’s capacity and offer a one-time, unrestricted $1,000 payment to survivors of domestic and gender-based violence until 2026.