Content Warning: discussion of sexual violence, stats on violence against trans folks

The systemic issues of intimate partner violence and rape culture that we’ve been exploring this season have direct intersections with systemic racism, and specifically the treatment of Black women and Black trans folks.  While our Uncomfortable Conversation video series explores the contemporary implications of rape culture and the normalization of intimate partner violence in our society, there is a deep history that cannot be neglected with direct impacts on our current culture. There is a deep history of abuse and neglect around the reporting of sexual violence, which for Black women and trans folks is disproportionately unjust.

More than 40% of Black women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime, according to the Institute of Women’s Policy Research’s Status of Black Women in the United States. In comparison, 31.5% of all women will experience domestic violence.

A report from the National Center for Victims of Crime found that 53.8% of Black women had experienced psychological abuse, while 41.2% of Black women had experienced physical abuse.

According to the 2015 US. Transgender Survey, fifty-three percent (53%) of black trans and non-binary people have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetimes, while thirteen percent (13%) were sexually assaulted in the past year.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of black trans and non-binary people have experienced some form of intimate partner violence, including acts of coercive control and physical violence.

In the same survey, nearly one-third (29%) of respondents reported acts of coercive control by an intimate partner related to their transgender status, including being told that they were not a “real” woman or man, threatened with being “outed” by having their transgender status revealed to others, or prevented from taking their hormones. Forty-four percent (44%) experienced physical violence by an intimate partner.

We share this information to ground the video series we’ve created in partnership with The Uncomfortable Conversation, and to honor the work of Black women & trans organizers and scholars have done to bring these necessary realities and accounts to the forefront of the conversation on sexual assault and intimate partner violence.

We invite you to join us for a free virtual Screening & Discussion of these videos on Thursday, June 25th at 7:30 pm, where we will be highlighting some of these intersections along with the work of some amazing Black Boston actors you should know.

Please register to attend this special event!!

Participants will be sent a Zoom link ahead of the screening.

This event is free. In lieu of donations to our company, we suggest that you donate, if you are able, to one of the many organizations engaged in on-the-ground action for racial justice. You can find some links here and some more over here.