Black Women Over Violence

“Black women experience higher rates of psychological abuse, including humiliation, insults, name-calling, and coercive control than women overall.”

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, more than 20% of black women are raped during their lifetime. black girls make up one-third of the girls referred to law enforcement - and between ages 18-19, they were four times more likely to be imprisoned than their white counterparts. Black women experience higher rates of psychological abuse, including humiliation, insults, name-calling, and coercive control than women overall. In addition, The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that while black women are only 8% of the American population, they make up 22% of homicides that are a result of domestic violence/intimate partners violence.

“Yet, in the midst of all that black women face, how often is self-care used as a tool of resistance and healing?”

This is just a snapshot of the ways in which violence impacts the lives of black women. Whether it be the murder of Sandra Bland or having to Survive R. Kelly, black women have many reasons to shout “we are over violence!” Yet, in the midst of all that black women face, how often is self-care used as a tool of resistance and healing? In her book, Well That Escalated Quickly, Franchesca Ramsey writes: “When it seems that so much of society would rather you not live at all, keeping yourself healthy is a revolutionary act.” These acts come in many forms; for some its taking time to read a chapter of that book you’ve stared at all month, getting your hair done, journaling, taking three deep breaths, nurturing your body with healthy food, going to the doctor, or attending an event that will affirm and uplift you.

For this Black History Month, we welcome healing through the act of self-care and call black women into this communal space to stand against violence.

Learn more about POV’s upcoming event for black women.

-Ebony Williams, LMFT
Trauma Therapist at Peace Over Violence