A recent study found that New Jersey has the lowest rate of serious crime of all 50 states, so it is often thought of as a safe state. Still, this doesn’t mean that everyone in New Jersey feels safe and secure the same way. The most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that New Jersey is the most dangerous state in the country for Black women.
The Difference in the Number of Homicides
The CDC says that in 2021, 9.7 out of every 100,000 Black women in New Jersey were killed. This is more than five times the national average of 1.8 out of every 100,000. It’s fifteen times more likely for a white woman in New Jersey to be killed than for a black woman in New York.
The difference in murder numbers isn’t just true in New Jersey. Black women are more likely to be killed than women of other races and groups across the country. The Violence Policy Center says that in 2018, 22% of all female murder victims were black women, even though black women only make up 13% of the female population. The killer in most of these cases was someone the victim knew, usually a close partner.
Why There Is So Much Violence
As well as racism and sexism, poverty, lack of access to health care, education, and social services, and stress and trauma are some of the things that make violence against Black women more likely. These things make Black women more likely to be abused or killed because they make them more vulnerable and oppressed.
The fact that New Jersey doesn’t have many gun control rules may help explain why the state has the highest murder rate for Black women. New Jersey has some of the strictest gun rules in the country, but a lot of illegal guns come from states nearby that have less strict gun laws. People who hurt others or break the law will find it easy to get guns and use them against their victims.
Another thing that might have something to do with it is that cops in New Jersey are not being reformed or held accountable. New Jersey has a reputation for being progressive, but its police have a past of being violent and dishonest, especially in Black neighborhoods. A report from the state attorney general in 2020 showed that in New Jersey, cops used force on black people more than three times more often than on white people. The study also said that a lot of police departments did not have the right training, oversight, or openness.
Why We Need to Act and Make Changes
The high number of murders of Black women in New Jersey is a public health emergency that needs to be dealt with right away. To solve this problem, there are several things that can be done, such as
- Increasing the number of times gun rules are enforced and closing the gaps that let illegal guns into the state.
- Putting in place a wide range of police reform and transparency measures, like making body cameras mandatory, banning chokeholds, and setting up independent review boards.
- Putting more money and resources into programs that stop and help victims of domestic abuse, like shelters, hotlines, counseling, and legal help.
- To help Black women gain power and take the lead in all areas of society, including politics, education, business, and the media.
- Getting more people to know about the causes and effects of abuse against Black women and fighting the stereotypes and stigmas that make them seem less important and human.
These steps can make New Jersey a better and fairer place to live for everyone, but especially for Black women who deserve to live without fear of harm.