Black women suffer disproportionately as violent crime victims, data finds

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Data shows that Black women continued to disproportionately be victimized by crime in Chicago. Advocates say more steps need to be taken to protect them.

Shavonda Fields-Phillips is one of thousands of Black women who have become victims of crime in Chicago. Several years ago she was robbed and assaulted at a West Side bus stop and recently has had her car broken into three times in the last six months.

"It is traumatic and you're always on alert," she said. Just on. You never get an opportunity to just retreat to being in a safe space."

No none has ever been arrested or charged with the crimes.

The disproportionality of Black women's victimization was one of the topics discussed during a luncheon honoring women in pastoral leadership at the Chicago Urban League. It has also prompted 16th Ward Alderwoman Stephanie Coleman, who is the chair of the city council's Black Caucus, to call for a taskforce to address the problem.

"These are our nieces, these are our sisters, there are our aunts, these are our goddaughters, these are our members," she said.

Supporters of the effort say the data is concerning. According to the Chicago Violence Reduction Dashboard, data from 2023 shows there were 13,917 female victims of violent crime like assault, battery, criminal sexual assault, robbery and homicide, marking a 16% increase over the average of the past three years of 2020-2023.

Hispanic and Latina women saw an increase in 2023, compared to the average of the prior three years, in homicide and non-fatal shooting victimizations.

Black women are most likely to be the victim of violent crime among all races.

"And then when we compare ourselves with other women, with white women, Asians women, those numbers are even higher," said Karen Freeman Wilson, Chicago Urban League president.

Coleman hopes to repurpose the city's already existing gender-based taskforce to seek solutions, by adding more women of color to the 15 member body. She would also like to some of the 400 set aside civilian positions at the Chicago Police Department.

"When a Black woman is a victim of a crime, these are the individuals that would come in and help that Black woman," she said.

The effort will also include tapping into women's groups, black Greek organizations and the faith community.

The taskforce, which will begin meeting in February, could start to generate recommendations as soon as March.

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