Black women in the US murdered six times more often than White women over last 20 years

Black women in the U.S were, on average, six times more likely to be murdered than their white peers for the years 1999 through 2020, according to an analysis of racial disparities in U.S. homicide rates released by Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. It also indicates that Black women are more likely than white women to be killed by guns. The study is the first to analyze homicide trends spanning two decades among women aged 25 to 44 – the ages when women are most likely to be murdered. The findings are published in The Lancet. 

It is well known that homicide rates among Black women in the US are disproportionately high compared to white women, and that Black women tend to be murdered at younger ages and at higher rates than other women of color in the US, including Native American and Alaska Native women. Despite this, data on the disparities remains limited. 

“As a scholar whose research examines intimate partner violence, I have long known that there were disparities in homicide rates between Black and white women. To uncover the fact that Black women are murdered at rates as high as 20 to 1 is heart-breaking and underscores the urgent need to make substantive structural shifts,” says Dr Bernadine Waller, lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral research fellow in the Psychiatry Department at Columbia University Irving Medical Center with a dual appointment at New York State Psychiatric Institute.

The study findings also show that: 

• Homicide rates among Black women were significantly higher than for white women in all 30 states analyzed, with the biggest differences in states with the highest racial inequities.
• The greatest disparity in homicide rates was in Wisconsin in 2019-2020, when Black women were 20 times more likely to be murdered than white women. 
• Black women in the U.S. were more likely than white women to be killed by a firearm, particularly those in the Northeast and Midwest.

The evidence suggests a strong link exists between higher homicide rates and the effects of deeply entrenched racial inequities – which manifest through factors such as educational attainment, unemployment, and wealth distribution – across the U.S. This suggests that measures to reduce structural racism in the U.S .could help prevent elevated rates of homicide among Black women. Understanding how disparities in homicide rates change over time at state and regional level may help identify areas where intervention is needed most. 

The authors used CDC WONDER public health data to carry out a cross-sectional analysis of homicide death rates for Black and white women in the U.S .between 1999 and 2020. The analysis focused on women aged 25-44 years in the 30 states with enough homicides (more than nine in any year) for analysis. 

Results were produced for five time periods: 1999-2003; 2004-2008; 2009-2013; 2014-2018; and 2019-2020. The method of homicide was analyzed for four U.S. regions: South, Midwest, West, and Northeast. 

The findings indicate Black women in the U.S. consistently had higher homicide rates compared to white women between 1999 and 2020. The overall homicide rate among Black women in 2020 was 11.6 per 100,000 population, compared with 3 per 100,000 among white women. This was virtually unchanged from 1999, when the rate among Black women was 11.6 per 100,000 compared to 2.9 per 100,000 in white women. While disparities in homicide rates fell between 1999 and 2013 – due to a decrease in homicide rates in Black women – they increased from 2013 to 2020. At state level, there were differences in how disparities in homicide rates decreased or increased between 1999 and 2020. 

Homicide rates among Black women were higher than their white peers during all periods in every state analyzed. While the greatest inequities in homicide rates were in Wisconsin in 2019-2020, when Black women were twenty times more likely to be murdered than white women, the greatest disparities overall, were in the Midwest, where Black women in 2020 were over seven times more likely to be murdered than white women. 

Notably, states with the greatest disparities in homicide rates were in parts of the country with a high proportion of people of low socioeconomic status living close together. These areas also tend to have histories of slavery and lynching, and are places where especially tense Black Lives Matter protests took place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Our findings indicate that the greatest inequities are in the areas of the country where concentrated disadvantage is pronounced. Thus, focusing on historical structural racism’s long-lasting legacy in the U.S .is imperative. Efforts aimed at reducing disproportionate homicide deaths among Black women can be implemented through addressing the role of structural racism when it comes to policies and practices that increase Black women’s risk and lessen Black women’s access to much needed resources,” said Victoria A. Joseph, a co-author of the paper and a data analyst in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. 

Gun deaths among Black and white women in the US increased, with women in general more than twice as likely (odds of 2.44) to be killed by firearms in 2019-2020 compared to 1999-2003. However, Black women were more likely than white women to be killed by a firearm (odds of 1.38). 

The odds of gun deaths among Black women increased over time compared to white women. In 2020, Black women in the Northeast were three times more likely than white women (odds of 3.02) to be killed by a firearm, while firearm homicides among Black women in the Midwest were more than six times higher (odds of 6.31) than among white women. In the South, Black women were around one and a half times (odds of ~1.5) more likely to be killed by a firearm. The West’s sample size was too small to be included in this part of the analysis.  

“Available data indicate that homicides in the US continued to escalate in many areas of the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also intersected with widespread national protests after the murder of George Floyd. These trends reflect systems that have long disserviced communities of color, and underscore that sustained investment and vision to support underserved communities are critical to reverse racial injustices that impact health and wellbeing.” said Katherine Keyes, senior author of the paper and professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

The study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health, grants L30 MH131137 and T32MH096724. 

*Data on the 30 individual states included in the analysis can be found in the paper.

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the fourth largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.publichealth.columbia.edu

About New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), Columbia Department of Psychiatry

The Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University is preeminent among academic medical institutions in research, education, and clinical care. Its clinical facilities and laboratories are housed in affiliated institutions and health care systems located on the Columbia University Irving Medical Center campus, including the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, an international leader in understanding mental health and mental illness and a collaborative partner for more than 90 years. Together, the organization comprises 2000+ employees who work across three missions to serve the community and advance mental health.