Over the last couple years, there’s been a sharp uptick in violence in the United States, including violence against women. Some have called it the shadow pandemic, and the impact of this violence has been more deeply felt in communities of color.
Statistics from the FBI revealed that in 2020, at least four Black women and girls were killed per day in this country, and many others went missing. State Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) wants to create a task force to address the problem of missing and murdered Black women and girls in Wisconsin.
"This legislation is really going to demand a change that is necessary in order to take the steps that we need to — to do research, addressing the issue of the missing, murdered African American women and girls," she explains.
If passed, Stubbs hopes this task force would be made up of legislators, law enforcement experts, legal experts and experts in the field of gendered violence organizations.
Currently, the bill has been assigned to the Assembly Committee on the State of Affairs and is waiting for a public hearing. Stubbs is expecting a delay. If the bill doesn't get passed at the end of this year's session, she says she will introduce it again at the beginning of the year. Stubbs acknowledges that passing it will require bipartisan support.
"This can't just be Rep. Shelia Stubb's issue. I need 98 other state representatives to make it their issue. I need the other 32 senators to make it their issue. I can assure you, we can make it an issue. I will do my advocacy as always to ask Gov. Evers to pass and sign this into law," she says.
