International Mechanism Submissions

Together with Lakeisha Lee, Chair of the Minnesota Missing and Murdered African American Women Task Force, The Advocates for Human Rights submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Committee on the United States' compliance with its human rights obligations relating to violence against Black women and girls, in advance of the Committee's 139th Session. 

The United States fails to uphold its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

The report provides an overview of human rights developments related to violence against women and girls of color since the United States' last review. The submission summarizes and updates the information provided by The Advocates for Human Rights ("The Advocates") and partners to the other human rights mechanisms.

In the United States, somewhere between 64,000 and 75,000 Black girls and women are missing, and Black women die of homicide at twice the rate of the general population of women. Nationally, cases involving Black girls and women stay open, or remain pending, four times longer than other cases on average. In the U.S. state of Minnesota, in 2020, 40% of domestic violence victims were Black, although they constitute less than 7% of Minnesota's population. Additionally, there is insufficient attention from both law enforcement and the media to cases of violence perpetrated against Black women and girl, a problem sometimes referred to as "missing white woman syndrome." Black women find themselves leading the important work of addressing violence against Black women and girls as well as helping victims, families, and community healing, but are doing so with very little resources. Indigenous women are also at greater risk of discrimination and violence and face ineffective responses by the state in protecting their fundamental rights to safety.

Recommendations relating to criminal justice:

• Consult with civil society organizations that serve or advocate for Black women and girls to identify the root causes of the disproportionate incarceration rates and to determine measures to take to address them.
• Take steps, in consultation with civil society, to ensure legislation does not have retroactive disparate impacts on marginalized communities.

Recommendations relating to violence against women:

• Ensure law enforcement agencies have adequate resources for dedicated missing persons units, including for Black and Native women and children.
• Provide trainings to law enforcement and other professionals to ensure cases are properly identified and labeled as "missing persons."
• Conduct culturally appropriate and gender-sensitive training for media and encourage the expansion of media coverage of cases of missing and murdered Black and Indigenous women and children.
• Enact legislation to better coordinate investigations and prosecution of cases between state, federal, and tribal jurisdictions.
• Provide additional funding for criminal justice and victims services, with input from Tribal communities and civil society organizations.
• Take measures and allocate sufficient resources to investigate and remedy violence against Black women and girls.
• Consider taking measures necessary to reduce and prevent violence against Black women and girls.

Recommendations relating to child welfare:

• Take measures to address the root causes leading to child protective services cases.
• Undertake studies to monitor the statistics, causes, reasons, and impacts of the loss of child custody, disaggregating it by race and gender.
• Provide ongoing and culturally specific trainings for those working with families, in consultation with or led by members of the Black and Indigenous communities and organizations that serve these communities.

Recommendations relating to housing:

• Ensure effective implementation of the Fair Housing Act and support ongoing monitoring of its implementation to ensure it is applied without discrimination or with discriminatory impact.
• Provide adequate funding for organizations specializing in providing housing and other resources to survivor victims and marginalized women and children.
• Expand efforts to identify vulnerable and at-risk women and children and consult with those adults and organizations who serve them to best understand and address their needs.
• Provide culturally-specific support and resources for marginalized women and children that is either led by or developed in consultation with the groups that directly serve these populations and best understand their needs.

Recommendations relating to education: 

• Undertake or support studies to understand the suspension and other academic punishments levied in K-12 public schools, with a specific focus on racial disparities and uncovering the reasons for those punishments.
• Develop, following comprehensive studies and consultations with affected populations, culturally appropriate training and reforms of relevant academic policies to address discrimination against Black girls in terms of school punishments, self-expression, and other policies.
• Provide adequate funding for various programs, including specific line items intended to address discrimination and the specific needs of Black and minority schoolgirls, provided by the Department of Education.