On Thursday, March 3, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, will hold a hybrid hearing to examine the disproportionate rates by which BIPOC—Black, Indigenous, and People of Color—women and girls go missing, the disparate treatment their cases receive by law enforcement and the media, and potential solutions to address this crisis.

This silent epidemic is affecting hundreds of thousands of Black, Brown, and Indigenous women and girls across the country. In 2020, 40% of all women and girls reported missing were people of color—100,000 out of 250,000 missing—despite making up just 16% of the population. The disproportionate rate of missing Black and Indigenous women and girls can be attributed to a variety of factors, including higher rates of intimate partner violence against BIPOC women than white women.

Missing Black, Brown, and Indigenous women and girls also rarely receive the same amount of attention by law enforcement and the media as white women and girls. Empirical studies have identified “missing white woman syndrome”—a phenomenon in which white women are given vastly higher levels of media attention than women of color. And while white women are often treated as vulnerable victims by both law enforcement and the media, BIPOC women are frequently viewed as responsible for their situations.

The full scope of the problem is impossible to measure due to a lack of comprehensive and consistent data regarding missing BIPOC women and girls. In fact, there is no data on missing Hispanic or Latino women, as their cases are captured under the “White” demographic. To address this problem, federal and state governments must step up to address gaps in care, protection, and data collection. Congress must also act to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2021, pass the Protect Black Women and Girls Act, and fund the full implementation of the Ashanti Alert Act.

WITNESSES

Ms. Natalie Wilson

Founder

Black and Missing Foundation

Ms. Angel Charley

Executive Director

Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women

Mr. John E. Bischoff, III

Vice President, Missing Children Division

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Ms. Pamela Foster

Mother of Missing Child

Mr. Shawn Wilkinson

Father of Missing Child

Ms. Patrice Onwuka (minority witness)

Director, Center for Economic Opportunity

Independent Women’s Forum

Committee Notice:

https://oversight.house.gov/legislation/hearings/the-neglected-epidemic-of-missing-bipoc-women-and-girls