The Intersectionality of Black Women and its Effects on Sexual Violence
Black women have a vulnerability to sexual violence that comes from their intersecting and group identities as well as social categorization that leads to stereotypes and different forms of sexism.
*TRIGGER WARNING* Throughout this website there is slightly graphic language used to describe sexual violence
*Disclaimer: I am not a Black woman, I am only trying to raise awareness and lift Black voices. My intention is to provide resources for people to start the learning process.
The Statistics
What are Black women experiencing?
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Sexual violence against Black women is unique due to the intersectionality that causes an underdistinction from Black men and an overdistinction from women (Coles & Pasek, 2020).​
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This means that people underestimate the similarities between Black women and men, and over estimate the similarities between Black and White women
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Over 20% of Black women are raped, and they tend to experience a higher rate of this than women as a whole.
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Similarly, Black women are more likely to be murdered by men than women overall, and they also tend to experience more psychological abuse (APA, 2020).
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One in five Black women are survivors of rape (The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community, 2018)
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Data shows that Black women tend to be victims of sexual violence and aggression more often than white women (Zounlome et al. 2019).
Thesis
References
American Psychological Association. (2020, February). Black women, the forgotten survivors of sexual assault. In the Public Interest. http://www.apa.org/pi/about/newsletter/2020/02/black-women-sexual-assault
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Barreto, M., & Ellemers, N. (2005). The burden of benevolent sexism: How it contributes to the maintenance of gender inequalities. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 633-642.
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Coles, S. M., & Pasek, J. (2020). Intersectional invisibility revisited: How group prototypes lead to the erasure and exclusion of black women. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 6(4), 314-324. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tps0000256
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Correll, J., Park, B., Judd, C.M., & Wittenbrink, B. (2002). The police officer’s dilemma: Using ethnicity to disambiguate potentially threatening individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1314 –1329.
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Glick, P. & Fiske, S.T. (2001). An ambivalent alliance: Hostile and benevolent sexism as complementary justifications for gender inequality. American Psychologist, 56, 109-118.
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Gómez, J.,M., & Gobin, R. L. (2020). Black women and girls & #MeToo: Rape, cultural betrayal, & healing. Sex Roles, 82(1-2), 1-12. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01040-0
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Gravelin, C. R., Biernat, M., & Baldwin, M. (2019). The impact of power and powerlessness on blaming the victim of sexual assault. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 22(1), 98-115.
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Hetey, R.C., & Eberhardt, J.L. (2014). Racial disparities in incarceration increase acceptance of punitive policies. Psychological Science, 25(10), 1949 –1954.
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Kassin S., Fein S., & Markus H. R. (2020). Social Psychology. [Yuzu Reader].https://reader2.yuzu.com/#/books/9780357122822/
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Katz, J., Merrilees, C., LaRose, J., & Edgington, C. (2018). White female bystanders’ responses to a black woman at risk for sexual assault: Associations with attitudes about sexism and racial injustice. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 27(4), 444-459. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2017.1376238
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The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community. (2018, October). Black Women and Sexual Assault. Retrieved from https://ujimacommunity.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Ujima-Womens-Violence-Stats-v7.4-1.pdf
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Zounlome, N. O. O., Wong, Y. J., Klann, E. M., David, J. L., & Stephens, N. J. (2019). ‘No One . . . Saves Black Girls’: Black University Women’s Understanding of Sexual Violence. The Counseling Psychologist, 47(6), 873–908. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000019893654