Jerrica Laws was 20 years-old when she vanished without a trace after going for a walk in her Park Forest neighborhood, something she routinely did.
That was more than six years ago. Her mother, Shantinel Howard, is still seeking answers. Howard was among speakers at a virtual forum Saturday on Missing Black Women and Girls held by the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls.
“In 2020, nearly 100,000 Black women and girls were reported missing,” U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Matteson, told forum attendees, citing data from the National Crime Information Center. “That means that Black women made up a little more than one-third of all missing women reported last year, which is far higher than the population we account for nationally. However, we do not hear about these girls’ and women’s cases.”
More Top Picks Best Computer Glasses For Women
While the numbers are shocking, they likely don’t paint the whole picture because Black women’s cases often go underreported, Kelly said.
Human trafficking is a factor in the high numbers. Forty percent of all human trafficking victims were identified as Black women, according to a compilation of data in a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation report on sex trafficking in the United States, released in 2020. In many cases, women and children arrested for prostitution are likely being trafficked, Kelly said, as she referenced FBI data from that report that showed that 57.5% of all juvenile prostitution arrests are Black children.
“Implicit bias plays a hand,” Kelly said.
She noted Black women and girls have long faced misperceptions and bias of hypersexuality. That has led society to downplay instances of sexual assault and human trafficking among Black women and girls, Kelly said.
Black and brown victims are often categorized as runaways, not as missing, panelist Kisha Roberts-Tabb said in an interview. She is the human trafficking/gender responsive/LGBTQ specialist at Cook County juvenile courts. She also is owner and CEO of the Chicago-based RTA Consulting Group, which consults with government and nongovernmental agencies on identifying and interacting with trafficking victims and survivors, designs and evaluates trauma care curriculum for youth and adults and provides training on awareness on outreach services.
Roberts-Tabb also is founder of Girls Night Out, which holds annual domestic human trafficking awareness events.
Because of how they are categorized, Black women and girls aren’t seen through “the same lens of harm,” and comparable resources aren’t devoted to them, she said.
“You don’t see the significance of harm when it’s a runaway,” she said. They often go from runaway to throwaway “because we stop looking after a certain amount of time. We don’t get the same media attraction after that other populations get, after may be a blog or a Facebook post.”
Candace McCollum, WVON news host and host of “The Invisible Ones” Docuseries, a series on missing Black women and girls in Chicago, was asked why media often don’t cover cases of missing Black women and girls to the same degree that they cover cases of missing white women.
She said it comes from how society often portrays Black women, who often are perceived as less than, from broken homes, having no education, as less important and written off. Meanwhile, she noted missing white women and girls have become household names due to widespread media coverage. She cited the case of Gabby Petito from last year.
Longtime Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell noted there are fewer journalists of color in newsrooms today, which is also a factor. She offered sage advice encouraging victims’ families to proactively reach out to reporters and editors and editorial boards with their stories and to provide feedback on how stories are covered.
Greater funding is needed to assist organizations that work with victims of human trafficking and groups working with other at-risk Black girls and women, said Brenda Myers-Powell, co-founder and executive director of The Dreamcatcher Foundation in Chicago.
Law enforcement needs more investigators to work on these cases, said Howard in an interview after the event.
“We don’t have enough resources dedicated to this,” she said.
Howard said when her daughter went missing, it initially was suggested she might be with a boyfriend Howard might not have been aware of. Howard said, to her knowledge, Laws didn’t have a boyfriend. She wasn’t on social media. She went to church, read the bible and volunteered in the community, and police found that to be the case.
“You never think it will hit your doorstep,” said Howard. “When it does, as a mother, a parent you just want the support … You don’t know what to do.”
She described Laws “as a young woman who loves God, who has a sense of humor. She is always upbeat and will make you laugh.”
Karen Phillips, mother of Kierra Coles, who has been missing since October 2018, told the group she feels robbed. When the telephone rings she is often fearful it’s the police or the morgue calling with bad news.
“It’s terrifying every day,” she said.
Shelia Bradley-Smith, aunt of Tionda and Diamond Bradley who have been missing since July 2001, spoke to the group through tears.
“We need to see more boots on the ground, not just for Tionda and Diamond, but for all these missing women and children,” she said.
Staying safe
Among advice offered to keep women and girls safe:
* Set up SOS emergency settings on your phone.
* Keep your phone charged and carry a battery charger.
* Avoid isolated areas and distractions.
* Stay connected. Let family and close friends privately know where you are going and your plans.
* Be careful about what you post online.
* Avoid model calls at undisclosed locations, video auditions or parties with secret locations.
* When using ride-shares like Uber and Lyft, verify car, make, model and license plate number and ask your driver who they are picking up before getting in the vehicle.
More Top Picks Brod Taylor Sahara Folding
* Switch up your schedule.
* Don’t pull over for disabled vehicle. Rather, call authorities to report it when you are at a safe location.
Community resources
* Safe Online Surfing sos.fbi.gov
* National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 1-800-843-5678, www.missingkids.org
* National Human Trafficking Resource Center, 1- 888-373-7888, Chat: www.humantraffickinghotline.org/chat
* National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-7233, www.thehotline.org
* The Dreamcatcher Foundation 1-773-937-9898, www.thedreamcatcherfoundation.org
* RTA Consulting, www.drkisharobertstabb.com
Francine Knowles is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown