Race, Gender-based Violence, and Criminalization

This fact sheet by the National Black Women’s Justice Institute discusses gender-based violence and the criminalization of Black women and girls.

Black women survivors of violence face criminalization because of the intersection of sexism and racism. Black mothers are criminalized for not protecting their children from abuse. Black girls are criminalized for the ways that they respond to abuse. Both Black women and girls are criminalized for protecting and defending themselves. Incarceration robs Black women and girls of their bodily autonomy, subjecting them to further sexual harassment and violence while incarcerated.

Organizations such as Survived & Punished and the Survivors Justice Project raise awareness of the criminalization of survivors and fight for decarceration.

The strategies that Black women and girls take to survive are often criminalized, creating an abuse-to-incarceration pipeline that overwhelmingly targets Black women and girls.

SOURCE: National Black Women's Justice Institute • LAST UPDATED: October 24, 2022