![]() Brandon Johnson delivered his inauguration speech last month at the Credit Union 1 Arena at University of Illinois Chicago. His opponent, former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, ran on a campaign of addressing crime with tougher policing. And maybe that persona is perceived as making her less vulnerable, less a person who is receptive towards the receiving services, or being seen as a victim."Īddressing the root causes of violence such as poverty, is an issue that got Mayor Brandon Johnson elected in April. That's like the idealized victim versus a working-class Black woman who may have to adopt a persona to protect herself. Consider a middle-class white woman versus a poor black woman. "All those things can take away from what may be considered the ideal victim. " stereotypes that black women are not truly being victims because of being aggressive, being masculine, over-sexualized," professor Brown said. Black women also accounted for more than half of the 27 sexual assault victims on the CTA. Black men accounted for 30%, or 134 victims. Of the 455 victims assaulted on CTA buses, bus stops, trains and stations last year, Black women were the hardest hit, accounting for 181 victims, or 38%. The data does support some of Brown's assertions. "They're out at times when there is not a lot of police presence…they're out there alone on the bus stop, or they're riding the Red Line alone." "Because you're in economically unstable times, and who is out on the streets? Who's the most vulnerable? Officer Preston… was on her way home at 1:40 in the morning, and she was the target of a robbery," she said, referring to Chicago police officer Aréanah Preston, who was murdered on May 6.īrown said Black women are disproportionately working third-shift jobs and are in communities lacking a middle class and economic foundation that would deter this type of behavior. "They're targets because they're easy prey," Brown said. Not everyone's able to work in an office." So women have to work and so they get jobs where they can, sometimes it's third-shift. " the perception and demonization of poverty and the feminization of poverty. She said a combination of policing issues and government policies have contributed to Black women being victimized, such as working requirements for food assistance. Geneva Brown, a professor of criminology at DePaul University, said Black women in Chicago are often targets of crime because of economic conditions that were the result of government policies. "I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not," said Geneva Brown, a professor of criminology at DePaul University. The data show the challenges faced by women in high-crime areas. ![]() Black women also accounted for 34% of 146 kidnappings and half of the 19 human-trafficking victims.īlack women were also over-indexed in non-violent crimes last year, accounting for nearly a quarter of property thefts and 28% of motor vehicle thefts, where race data is available. There were about 1,600 sexual assault victims in 2022, and Black women made up about 40% of the victims, according to victim data.īlack women were the most victimized group in Chicago last year, accounting for 35% of assaults and 38% of batteries. It's there reminding me." Tonia Thomas, a West Side resident, was one of hundreds of Black women who were sexually assaulted every year in Chicago. But then I have that one random day… I'm driving home from work, or I'm driving somewhere, and suddenly, my mind just kind of goes off. "Some days, I could go maybe a week without thinking about it. At her home, she recounted being assaulted at a friend's party in 2021. ![]() Thomas lives in the Austin neighborhood and works as an assistant store manager. "I'm still angry that the thoughts don't go away. Thomas's views on crime against Black women are personal as she is a sexual assault survivor. To have to navigate through life knowing that you'll potentially become a victim of a crime primarily because of your race and your gender… it's not fair," said Tonia Thomas, a 27-year-old resident on Chicago's West Side. ![]() The resulting analysis becomes the closest accounting (short of actual names) of who is directly affected by crime in Chicago. That ratio is more pronounced – about 1 in 3 – when accounting only for reported crimes with race data, and excluding crimes without clear victims such as retail theft, FOID card violations or narcotics arrests. Black women only make up 16% of the city's population, but over-index in most categories of crime, accounting for 1 in 4 victimizations. ![]()
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