Black Women’s Lives Matter: Social Movements and Storytelling against Sexual and Gender-based Violence in the US

According to the US Department of Justice, women (33 per cent) are more likely than men (19 per cent) to experience violent victimisation (Morgan and Kena, 2018). Black women students are especially at risk of experiencing rape or sexual assault (Planty et al., 2013). A special report on sexual violence among college-age women found that between 1995 and 2013, the rate of sexual violence victimisation for Black females was 2.5 times higher than for white females (Sinozich and Langton, 2014). Furthermore, unlike other groups, Black women students were more likely to experience sexual victimisation than Black women non-students (ibid.). While Black women students experience higher rates of sexual violence, they remain on the periphery in discussions about sexual violence in higher education and violence against Black women (Wooten, 2017). Black women’s violent victimisation in higher education and the marginal attention to the problem reveal the persistence of the US’ historical legacy of racist and sexual violence.