The Last to Last - The Alarming Rate of Missing & Murdered Black Women

"The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman." Malcolm X said it best regarding the mistreatment of Black women, which still rings true today. When it comes to the constant fight for women's rights, for women's voices to be elevated, and for women's stories to matter, Black women's humanity is often the last to be acknowledged. The last to be fought for.

The systemic neglect of Black women is not often at the center of conversation. When it is, the plan for action is fleeting and forgotten, leaving the crisis at square one. Between the rates of femicide, intimate partner violence, and human trafficking, Black women have yet to see a lasting silver lining. In 2022, data showed that out of 271,493 women and girls missing, more than 36 percent were Black. Keep in mind that Black girls and women only account for 14 percent of the American female population that year. Statistics have always revealed that Black women are six times more likely to be killed in comparison to other groups of women.

We could talk about media bias or, more plainly put, racism. We can talk about why the coverage continues to lack and how missing Black girls and women rarely make national headlines. We can even talk about how those meant to protect and serve also play a role in the demise and neglect. Studies regarding police response to IPV cases have assessed the distinctions between Black and white survivors, concluding that there is in fact a racialized factor in policing. Arrests reportedly increased mortality by 98 percent with Black victims compared to white ones.

Kidnapped Black women and girls doubled down on the horrors. The makeup of sex trafficking victims is 40 percent Black women, with findings that reveal traffickers believe that they would receive a light sentencing if caught trafficking a Black woman. The idea that Black women's lives pail in comparison to their counterparts further feeds a system in place that fails them. Black girls are also trafficked at a much younger age compared to other groups.

A number of interconnected variables contribute to the trafficking and abuse of Black women and girls. These include structural problems, societal biases, and specific vulnerabilities that traffickers seek to exploit. Plainly put, many of these vulnerabilities are often experiences and options forced upon the victims.

Resilience is not a gift. It is not a superpower. In many cases, it is fighting against a system that intentionally fails us and dances on our graves. Being vulnerable to these evils because of poverty, neglect, no education,  or being at the mercy of ill-intentioned men shouldn't be a common tale. But it is. The question remains: How do we begin to rewrite how it ends? When does "protect Black women and girls" stop being a hashtag or headline and become the normal thing to do?