COMMENTARY: Can Minnesota be the first state to end the epidemic of violence against Black women, girls and femmes? 

 

Black women, girls, and femmes deserve to be safe and supported. Unfortunately, Black women in Minnesota are three times more likely than white women to be murdered. While only 7 percent of the state population is Black, 40 percent of domestic violence victims are Black women. We have the power to collectively end this epidemic of violence — if we listen, learn, and act on what directly impacted communities tell us. 

Community leaders across Minnesota are coming together to share a groundbreaking survey designed specifically for Black women, girls, and femmes to shape how state agencies, emergency services, and community organizations serve people impacted by violence. 

This effort didn’t come from policymakers, funders, researchers, or advocates — it came directly from community members who participated in Minnesota’s Missing and Murdered African American Women’s Task Force. This isthe nation’s first state task force, leading to a comprehensive state-level report on the epidemic of missing and murdered Black women and girls. Focused on actionable recommendations to shift systems and resources, the report sparked trailblazing progress in Minnesota, including the creation of the nation’s first Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls (MMBWG) and the introduction of federal legislation in 2023. 

Despite these wins, Black women survivors are rightfully wary: They have witnessed past promises amount to nothing. At Research in Action (RIA), we’re committed to ensuring our research doesn’t sit on a shelf but catalyzes concrete changes in the lives of impacted people. That’s why, despite the nation-leading progress provoked by the task force, we know the next and crucial step is ensuring the policies Black women and girls recommended are implemented in ways that disrupt the institutional norms that have allowed this epidemic to become entrenched. 

 

 

In partnership with RIA , the state MMBWG office, and dozens of volunteers across Minnesota, the Justice in Institutions for Black Women, Girls, and Femmes Survey is the first statewide comprehensive survey to ask Black women, girls, and femmes about their experiences with and expectations of state agencies, emergency services, and community organizations that serve people impacted by violence. From August 4 to October 31, the survey is shared at community events statewide and through local anchor organizations, aiming to gather the insight of at least 600 Black women, girls, and femmes on:

• How they perceive their own level of exposure to violence
• How much they trust state-funded programs to meet their needs to recover from
  or interrupt violence
• How these institutions can change to better serve Black women, girls, and femmes 

We can’t change systems simply by passing policies; we have to reshape the approaches and practices of the people within those systems. From state agency staff to shelter workers, those on the frontlines of crisis response and prevention must have the right skills, resources, and relationships to gain the trust of Black women and girls who have, for so long, been re-traumatized by institutions.

When we know more, our institutions can do better. Our statewide survey will gather the knowledge we need to make changes within those institutions.

The survey will provide essential information that RIA will utilize to develop a first-of-its-kind assessment tool to better understand how structural and systemic violence impacts Black women, girls, and femmes, and how public systems can be held accountable. Using our Equity in Action model, this work will be done in collaboration with local leaders, partners, and a National Action Council of scholars, government officials, and directly impacted Black women. 

This work is part of a five-year initiative and will create a transformative, replicable and scalable framework that might eventually influence nationwide changes. Black women, girls and femmes who are 14 years or older and live in Minnesota are invited to participate in this opportunity.

Learn more at researchinaction.com/bwgf-justice

 

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