Office of Missing Black Women and Girls
The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black, African descended women in religious scholarship, religious leadership and activism. As such, we have also highlighted our particular interests in activism as it pertains to African descended women and their communities. One of these interests pertains to the approximately 90,000 missing Black women and girls in the US. (For more information, see the Gender Report.)
This phenomenon is drastically under-reported and the cases are not solved at the same rate as other, similar cases. (See the Univ. of Portsmouth article, "Missing white women: Why racial bias dominates coverage of missing person cases.") For that reason, we are very excited to share new information! The State of Minnesota is launching the first Office of Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls.
In particular, you may note that "40% of the 7% population of Black women are victims of domestic violence, which was found to be a contributing factor to missing persons cases" (as stated below). We look forward to seeing more robust laws and consequences for domestic violence.
By investing in this crisis, we allow those who often rendered invisible to become visible as part of their full humanity. If we are truly part of the imago Dei (the "image of God"), then we have a responsibility to honor those who are being victimized.
As we all bear the image of God, we all shoulder the responsibility of ensuring God's image is not distorted within ourselves or those among us. We are our sisters' keepers!
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Dr. CL Nash, The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network © 2023
The Office of Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls
It’s time to get to the bottom of things.
The first Office of Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls is set to launch in Minnesota following the efforts of a task force focused on addressing missing cases of Black women and girls across the nation.
According to MPR News, the office is prepared to investigate cold cases and reopen any suspicious cases that proclaimed any Black women or girls who died by suicide or drug overdose.
“This is a real, true crisis,” said State Rep. Ruth Richardson (D), who carried the bill to create the new office. “One of the reasons this is so important is because when we see this data that our cases are not getting solved, or cases are not getting resources, it actually puts a target on the back of Black women and girls.”
The office will serve as a point of contact for anyone who feels hesitant to speak with police pertaining to active cases. “We can work towards a community intervention model that really serves all families for generations so that the office doesn’t have to be a forever office,” said Lakeisha Lee, the leader of Minnesota’s task force. “We can end this epidemic.” Such cases hit home for Lee whose family was reportedly brushed off by police after reporting her sister, Brittany Clardy, missing, who was murdered over a decade ago.
Minnesota’s House of Representatives passed the bill in March, to create the Office of Missing and Murdered African American Women. The office said it planned to allocate a $1.24 million annual budget to assist with cases. The budget is also supposed to be used toward the provision of grants to community organizations working to prevent issues such as domestic violence and human trafficking. Richardson noted that 40% of the 7% population of Black women are victims of domestic violence, which was found to be a contributing factor to missing persons cases.
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