Chicago Mayor Proposes Task Force to Address Rising Crime Impacting Black Women
In response to a disturbing rise in crime rates and its disproportionate effects on Black women in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson has unveiled plans to establish a specialized task force. This initiative comes as recent data highlights the urgent need for targeted strategies to improve safety and support for Black women and the broader community.
According to CBS News, Black women, who constitute 16% of Chicago’s population, accounted for 30% of crime victims in 2022. This stark statistic has prompted Mayor Johnson to commit to forming a task force focused on devising comprehensive safety measures for Black women, residents, workers, and visitors alike.
The announcement has elicited reactions from women citywide, who feel the move is long overdue. Tonia Thomas, a rape survivor, shared her experience of being drugged and sexually assaulted at a party in 2021, expressing that the city failed to show adequate compassion and care. “What happened to me, it won’t go away,” Thomas told CBS News. She criticized law enforcement’s decision not to press charges, saying, “So, what can we do to get past that step? That’s what this task force should be looking at.”
Thomas hopes the task force will engage with victims like herself to enhance the living conditions for Chicago’s Black female residents. “I feel like they should be listening to the victim,” she added.
A report from the Illinois Policy Institute, released in June, revealed a 7.8% increase in violent crime in Chicago from June 2023 to May 2024, driven largely by robberies. Despite the rise in crime, arrest rates plummeted to 10.8%, the lowest in five years. Robberies comprised over 37% of reported violent crimes, with batteries and assaults making up an additional 54%.
2023 Poses Challenges for Black Women in Chicago
The Chicago Violence Reduction Dashboard reported 13,917 female victims of violent crimes in 2023, marking a 16% increase over the average from 2020 to 2023. Despite notable increases in homicides and non-fatal shootings among Hispanic and Latina women, Black women remain the most affected demographic.
Gaby Molden-Carlwell, a trauma therapist at Resilience, emphasized the need for survivor advocacy expertise on the task force. She advised Mayor Johnson to include skilled social workers specializing in violence and crime. “I feel like that task force needs to have not only the police, but social workers, people who are literally in the field, doing the work,” she said in an interview with CBS News.
Molden-Carlwell also highlighted the importance of education and awareness, particularly for young children and teenagers, to empower at-risk groups. “It’s teaching them what good touch looks like, what bad touch looks like, what consent looks like,” she explained. “When we go into these schools, we tell them about programs like Resilience, and how to use their voice, and what secrets look like—because secrets for us, equal danger.”
Previous Efforts to Address Crime Against Black Women
Earlier this year, a bipartisan group led by Pennsylvania Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick and Illinois Congresswoman Robin L. Kelly, among others, reintroduced the Protect Black Women and Girls Act. Initially proposed in 2021, the act aims to create an Interagency Task Force to examine the challenges faced by Black women and girls across various sectors. The legislation seeks to promote community-driven solutions to reduce harm and ensure accountability.
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