By: Ashya Smith, MPH, Desha Holden-Nelson, MPH, and Ashley Stone, Ph.D.
Throughout 2026, the murders of Black women in domestic violence incidents captured national attention, but the cases that made headlines tell only part of a much larger story.
Black femicide—a term coined by activist and researcher Rosalind Page—refers to the killing of Black women and girls because they are Black and female. While the term has been popularized in the last few years, Black femicide is centuries old and rooted in institutional devaluation and normalized violence against Black bodies. Today, Black women make up 14% of the US population and one-third of all women murdered by men. The anti-Black racism and sexism uniquely experienced by Black women result in abductions, exploitation, and murders that are drastically under reported by mass media compared to that of white women. While significant disparities persist in reporting data and stories documenting the disproportionate harm experienced by Black women, mass media often perpetuates dangerous stereotypes that portray Black women as aggressive, hypersexual, and uniquely resilient to suffering.
Black femicide does not occur in isolation. It exists along a continuum of violence that includes economic insecurity, workplace discrimination, barriers to health care, and the routine devaluation of Black women’s experiences. These forms of structural and passive violence often limit access to resources, reduce opportunities to seek support, and reinforce conditions that increase vulnerability to interpersonal violence. The same systems that render Black women disproportionately exposed to poverty, maternal mortality, housing instability, and workplace mistreatment also contribute to a culture in which violence against Black women is minimized, overlooked, and insufficiently addressed.
Policies that acknowledge Black femicide and protect Black women are scarce. Federally, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women distributes funding provided through the Violence Against Women Act, which was recently reauthorized by Congress in 2022. The act provides funding for programs that address domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking throughout the country. However, there are no federal level policies that directly address Black femicide.
State level policy can often serve as a blueprint for effective federal solutions. In 2023, Minnesota was the first state to establish an Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls. Building on this, Professor Tiara Willie at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health created the Screaming in Silence Policy ToolKit, which includes a model law that any state can adopt to replicate what Minnesota has done. The model law includes a customizable comprehensive framework to improve prevention, response, and accountability through better data collection, case review, policy recommendations, community investments, training, and a missing and endangered persons alert program.
In April, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the Protecting Victims Act of 2026. The legislation protects victims of domestic violence by enhancing accountability measures against offenders and protecting the privacy and safety of survivors. Although this bill does not specifically address Black femicide, it is a needed intervention to protect Black women in the District, as the city’s population is 43.6 % Black and 52.6% female. Additionally, domestic violence assaults with a dangerous weapon have increased in D.C., putting many Black women at risk.
Minnesota and Washington, D.C.’s recent efforts demonstrate that action is possible, but more must be done. States and the federal government should adopt policies that specifically address Black femicide, improve accountability, and invest in the safety and well-being of Black women and girls. Addressing Black femicide requires recognizing that lethal violence exists on a continuum with the structural and interpersonal harms Black women experience in their homes, workplaces, and communities. Their lives, like the lives of Victoria Alexander, Ashanti Allen, Rayven Edwards, Cerina Fairfax, Bianca Huntley, Gladys Johnson-Ball, Rev. Tammy McCollum, and Nancy Metayer and the countless other victims on Black femicide, are worth protecting, and our policies should reflect that reality.