Report Finds That Black Women Make up One-Third of All Female Murder Victims in Los Angeles

Nationally, 2,077 Black women and girls were killed in 2021, a 51% increase over 2019 and the largest jump of any racial or gender group during that period, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, the number of unsolved homicides of Black women and girls rose by 89% nationwide.   Here in Los Angeles, Black women made up nearly one-third of all female murder victims in the City of Los Angeles over the past decades despite accounting for less than five percent of the city’s population, according to a new report by the Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department. The report was commissioned by Councilmembers Curren Price and Marquese Harris-Dawson following the murder of 16-year-old Tioni Theus in 2022. “Tioni Theus was viciously stolen from her family who are still seeking justice for her murder”, said Councilmember Curren Price. “Tragically, Black and Latina women across our city experience higher rates of violence with little attention to their pain. Today, we say ‘no more.’  This report from the LA Civil Rights department brings needed attention to this crisis and a call foe action. Though it cannot bring Tioni back, this report will help us protect more women and girls across Los Angeles.”

In January 2022, the body of 16-year-old Tioni Theus was found at an on-ramp to the 110 Freeway at Manchester Avenue. The murder of the Black child has still not been solved.   The alarmingly high numbers in this report underscore the urgent need to address gender-based violence. The statistics – Black women comprise 4.3% of the population and make up to 33% of the victims of female violence – call for policy that addresses the systemic factors that maintain this climate of violence against Black women,” said Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson

Key findings in the 33-page report included the following:

• Black women accounted for 28,2% of all women reported missing in the city over the last two years and 32.85% of the female homicides over the last decade.
• Hispanic women made up approximately 37% of missing women from the last two years and 32.85% od the female homicides over the last decade.
• Mainstream media coverage of Black and Hispanic female victims is covered less frequently and characterized differently than non-Black, non-Hispanic female victims. Although overall violent crime rates have decreased in the City of Los Angels over the last decade, the number of Black and Hispanic women experiencing violence has remained at a steady high, if not increased. The number of Black women murdered in 2022, for example, is the exact number as in 2011, and increased by more 38% for Hispanic women over the 2011 number.
• Community-based organizations consistently encounter funding barriers that present significant challenges to continuing long-term holistic services to survivors, and that community programs must be undergirded by policy and legislative action

“This report confirms what many of us have known for a long time: Black women and Latinas in Los Angeles suffer from a crisis of violence”, said L.A. Civil Rights Executive Director Capri Maddox. “We will not let them suffer in silence. This data provides unequivocal proof of this crisis, and strategies for serving our women and girls. You cannot unsee these numbers”

Councilmember Heather Hutt called the report disheartening. “It is a crisis that must be met with urgency and conviction. These acts of egregious violence, underscores how each and every day we should uplift and sup- port the women in our communities. I look forward to working with my col- leagues to deploy more direct, mutually- accountable and transparent solutions to further scale up our response to protect the women in this city,” Hutt said.

The report– made with input from community-based organizations like the Jenesse Center–included recommendations to the City Council, one of which was to invest in prevention programming to mitigate risk of violence and decrease incidents of violence against women of color.

The report is set to receive a second hearing in the coming weeks before being heard and voted on by the full City Council.