Gun violence in the US is a public well being disaster. Every single day, greater than 100 persons are killed with a firearm, greater than 200 are nonfatally injured, and greater than 1,000 are threatened with a gun.1 There are a lot of types of gun violence, every affecting communities in another way, and girls particularly are uniquely affected.
Greater than 11,000 ladies in the US have been killed with a gun between 2015 and 2019, in response to the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.2 Whereas males endure even larger charges of gun violence, ladies are sometimes focused for violence due to their intercourse and are ceaselessly victims of individuals they know effectively. Each month, a median of 57 ladies are killed with a firearm by an intimate accomplice.3
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The affect of gun violence towards ladies goes past deadly encounters. A 2016 examine discovered that just about 1 million ladies alive at the moment had been shot by an intimate accomplice, and 4.5 million ladies had been threatened with a firearm.4 Firearms have lengthy been used as a software of energy and management to instill worry and inflict abuse on ladies—with ladies of shade, individuals within the LGBTQ neighborhood, and girls with disabilities being disproportionately affected.5
This abstract examines 5 key challenges and options round firearms and gender-based violence in the US.
5 key challenges round firearms and gender-based violence
- Weapons utilized in an intimate accomplice context: A good portion of firearm violence towards ladies happens in an intimate accomplice context, with a disproportionate affect on ladies of shade. Firearms are utilized in intimate accomplice violence greater than another weapon.6 In line with knowledge from the FBI’s supplemental murder stories, from 2010 to 2019, greater than 50 p.c of homicides of ladies perpetrated by an intimate accomplice concerned the usage of a gun.7
- Gender-based violence perpetrated by strangers and acquaintances: Gender-based violence by nonintimate companions, significantly concentrating on ladies of shade, reveals the dangerous penalties of quick access to firearms by misogynistic and racist people. In March 2021, a gunman entered three spas in Atlanta and the encircling space and fatally shot eight individuals.8 Seven of the victims have been ladies, and 6 have been Asian ladies.9 Prior to now yr, the group Cease AAPI Hate has compiled 6,600 reported incidents of discrimination or violence towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) neighborhood.10
- Transgender ladies focused by gun-related hate crimes: Transgender ladies, significantly trans ladies of shade, expertise disproportionate results from gun-related hate crimes. In 2021, at the very least 45 transgender or gender-nonconforming individuals—most of whom have been Black or transgender ladies of shade—have been shot or killed by different violent means.11 Between 2017 and 2019, 74 p.c of homicides of transgender individuals concerned a gun.12
- The dangerous results of COVID-19 on gun violence towards ladies: Intersecting crises, together with the financial recession ensuing from the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to spikes in gun violence towards ladies. Early estimates discovered that there was an 8 p.c improve in stories of home violence in the course of the months instantly following stay-at-home orders in early 2020.13 Concurrently, the US noticed record-high ranges of gun gross sales, which probably places individuals in home violence conditions at even better threat.
- Political actors block gun reform and promote harmful narratives: Gun lobbyists and manufactures promote gender-stereotyped narratives to advertise widespread gun possession regardless of empirical proof that demonstrates how harmful the weapons actually are. The presence of a gun throughout a home violence state of affairs will increase the probability {that a} demise will happen by 400 p.c, regardless of who owns the firearm.14
Efficient coverage options
- Disarm home abusers: Shut loopholes in laws that permit harmful individuals to entry firearms.
- Shut the gender wage hole: Honest and equitable pay permits survivors to go away abusive relationships and supply for his or her households.
- Deal with on-line hate speech: Misogynist and racist people commune in on-line boards that lead to harmful conditions in actual life.
- Reauthorize the Violence In opposition to Ladies Act with key enhancements: Every reauthorization creates a possibility to boost protections for survivors of home violence, courting violence, sexual violence, and stalking.
