Content warning: missing persons, violence against women, racism.
Amid the media coverage of the Gabby Petito case in the United States, there’s been some discussion of how missing persons cases for women and girls of color are more neglected than those for missing White women. Some statistics:
Black girls and women go missing at high rates, but that isn’t reflected in news coverage of missing persons cases. In 2020, of the 268,884 girls and women who were reported missing, 90,333, or nearly 34% of them, were Black, according to the National Crime Information Center. Meanwhile, Black girls and women account for only about 15% of the U.S. female population, according to census data. In contrast, white girls and women — which includes those who identify as Hispanic — made up 59% of the missing, while accounting for 75% of the overall female population.
[...]
In [Wyoming], more than 400 Indigenous girls and women went missing between 2011 and the fall of 2020, according to a state report. Indigenous people made up 21% of homicide victims in Wyoming between 2000 and 2020, despite being less than 3% of the state’s population. The disparity can be seen in the media: Only 18% of Indigenous female victims received coverage. However, among white victims, 51% were in the news.
To be clear, Rivers explains, it’s not about asking for more attention or being in “competition” with white people — it’s about other groups getting the same attention as white victims and having their lives honored in the same ways.
I don’t know how neglected it is compared to EA’s standard portfolio of issues (U.S. issues tend to get disproportionate attention from Americans), but I think it’s an interesting example of how people outside EA have applied importance and neglectedness to call attention to neglected issues.
Content warning: missing persons, violence against women, racism.
Amid the media coverage of the Gabby Petito case in the United States, there’s been some discussion of how missing persons cases for women and girls of color are more neglected than those for missing White women. Some statistics:
Hey, thanks for writing this.
I’m not quite sure I understand. Do you think this is an issue that isn’t worked on enough?
I don’t know how neglected it is compared to EA’s standard portfolio of issues (U.S. issues tend to get disproportionate attention from Americans), but I think it’s an interesting example of how people outside EA have applied importance and neglectedness to call attention to neglected issues.