Advocates renew push to address missing and murdered Black women

Last year, researchers published a national analysis of racial disparities in homicide rates over two decades. It found that nationwide, Black women between the ages of  25 to 44 were six times more likely to be murdered than white women. 

The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, also came with a staggering takeaway for Wisconsin — the only state to be mentioned in the study’s abstract.

“The racial inequity was greatest in Wisconsin, where in 2019–20, Black women aged 25–44 years were 20 times more likely to die by homicide than White women,” according to the researchers at Columbia University.

Meanwhile, according to the National Crime Information Center, nearly 98,000 Black women and girls were reported missing in 2022. That’s over a third of all missing women and girls, despite Black women making up about 14% of the female population.

These grim statistics, and the lived reality behind them, are why a state lawmaker is again calling for the Legislature to create a task force to find solutions.

“How much more longer must we wait before the state that we live in decides to do something with the worst disparity in the nation?” said state Representative Shelia Stubbs, a Democrat from Madison, at a press conference at the state Capitol on Friday. 

This is Stubbs’ third time calling on lawmakers to create a task force on missing and murdered African American women and girls.

She’s the author of a bill, introduced on Friday, that would create a 17-member task force to study the issue. Under the bill, the task force would produce a final report with proposed solutions to reduce gender violence and increase the safety of African American women and girls by December 2026.

On Friday, the Assembly Parlor was dotted with posters for missing or murdered Black women. Lashey Hill, missing from Racine since March 2023. Joniah Walker, missing from Milwaukee since June 2022. And Sade Robinson, whose brutal killing in Milwaukee last year made national headlines.

Robinson’s mother, Sheena Scarborough, spoke emotionally on Friday. She says the task force is “definitely needed” to help families like hers navigate an unimagineable reality.

“There’s not even enough time for me to even share all of the multiple layers from the beginning… having to work directly with law enforcement. Having to have my own family members and the community, finding most of her remains that were scattered at various parks all across the city. It took teams of people. It took a multitude.”

Scarborough has established the Sade’s Voice Foundation to support missing persons and victims of crime. Her daughter’s killer, Maxwell Anderson, is set to be sentenced next week. Scarborough described  it as returning a demon back to hell.

The bill has faced repeated hurdles in the Legislature. It advanced furthest last year when it passed the state Assembly, but never received a vote in the state Senate.

Rep. Stubbs said even getting it out of committee was difficult. The bill was initially sent to a committee chaired by then-Sen. Duey Stroebel, who opposed the measure. Stubbs said she had to fight to get it reassigned to a different committee, where it eventually passed.

Attorney General Josh Kaul says what’s needed now is “legislative will” to finally move the issue forward. 

“[Last session], the Legislature was so close to passing legislation that would help us move forward on this issue. But we’ve seen there’s some opportunity for compromise in this legislative session. And it’s my hope that legislators in both chambers will see this piece of legislation as one area where they can compromise, we can make progress, and ultimately we can work to make our communities safer.” 

Kaul does have the authority to create a task force without legislative approval. That’s what he did in 2020, when he launched the state’s task force on missing and murdered Indigenous women. Five years later, that group is preparing to release its final report, reports Wisconsin Public Radio. But that effort relied on federal funding, which isn’t available here. 

Kaul says he’d like the task force created through the legislature for two key reasons. He says it’s critical both that the task force is funded, and that the Legislature is a stakeholder in these discussions. 

“We don’t just want to have a task force that meets and develops solutions that then don’t go anywhere. We want to have members of the legislature be part and parcel of this task force so we can make progress, not just in putting out ideas, but in getting legislation passed.” 

Kaul says, in the scope of the state budget, the monetary ask is minimal and realistic. The estimated cost: about $80,000 in 2026 to fund one full-time position within the Department of Justice to staff the task force. The bill would increase funding to just under $100,000 in 2027.

Initiatives in other states have moved ahead. 

In 2021, Minnesota became the first to launch a task force focused on missing and murdered Black women. State Sen. Mary Kunesh, who authored the legislation, testified that the Minnesota task force “illustrated” that Black women in that state are three times more likely to be murdered than white women. 

Illinois lawmakers recently passed a proposal that creates new guidelines for missing persons investigations. It was inspired by a Cook County program to solve long-term missing women cases in the Chicago area. 

Rep. Stubbs says this work is personal, and her family came with her to Friday’s press conference. At one point, she pointed to her daughter, who “looks just like the girls that are missing. And I look like some of the mothers.” 

Stubbs says she wants affected families to reach out to her office.

“How many more victims do we need in this state before we do something? So I’m requesting that anyone across the state of Wisconsin who is experiencing the loss of their missing or murdered family member to reach out to my office. I need to connect with you.”