Even as the rate of serious crime in Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California, trends downward, Black women and girls remain at higher risk of victimization than any other demographic, The Brunswick News reported on Sunday.
At the same time, their deaths and disappearances receive far less attention from law enforcement and the news media than other races, The Brunswick News said, citing a report by the city's civil rights department.
The findings reflect the additional burdens placed on Black women, who are forced to overcome "financial instability, income inequality, housing insecurity, and a myriad of other potential social safety risks," even as they navigate the disproportionate effect of the pandemic on communities of color, according to the report.
"Black women experience a unique position of precarity as a result of decades of discrimination, grounded both in racism and sexism," the report was quoted as saying.
Citing Los Angeles Police Department statistics, the report found that while Black women make up about 4.3 percent of the city's population, they often account for 25 percent to 33 percent of its victims of violence.