VOICE OF WOMEN · PAGE 10
Bringing Her Home: Say Her Name
A ceremonial archive
Bring her home: A woman does not vanish. She is taken, overlooked, dismissed, or erased—but she is never gone from the record we are restoring.
Restoring dignity to the record
This archive centers missing, ignored, and under-investigated women of color. Public records will be searchable by year, state, era, name, archive number, and case status.
Research with care
Thousands of women and girls go missing in the United States each year, with minority and Indigenous populations disproportionately affected.
Scope and Statistics
In 2024, it was reported that 198,686 young women (under 21) were reported missing in the U.S., which is a stark contrast to the 63,584 older women (over 21) who were missing.
Consequently, this really shows how vulnerable younger women and girls are. It’s often the case that media reports focus on white victims, but almost half of the missing persons cases involve people of color.
Therefore, black girls, in particular, are often overrepresented. Even though Black girls make up just 14% of all U.S. women, they accounted for more than a third of all missing girls reported in 2022.
Indigenous women also face serious dangers, with some reservations reporting murder rates that are ten times higher than the national average and thousands of missing Indigenous persons reported each year.
Demographics and Disparities
- Black women and girls: Organizations like the Black and Missing Foundation and OurBlackGirls document cases often overlooked by mainstream media, emphasizing systemic neglect and the need for advocacy
- Indigenous women: The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center reports that most missing Indigenous women are under 18, with 95% of cases receiving no mainstream media coverage .
- Other populations: Missing women span all ages and ethnicities, with databases like NamUs and the FBI’s missing persons listings providing centralized records for law enforcement and families.
Notable Cases and Media Coverage
NBC’s “Missing in America” series has covered almost 600 cases over the past 12 years, and sadly, 271 of them are still missing, highlighting the ongoing difficulties in finding women who have disappeared.
These cases often involve travel, domestic violence, or suspected abductions, and some have been unsolved for decades.
Resources and Advocacy
- Families and communities can access support through multiple organizations:
- NamUs: Provides forensic services, investigative support, and a national database for missing and unidentified persons.
- Missing In America Network: Offers awareness campaigns, flyers, and volunteer support to help locate missing persons
- Black and Missing Foundation: Focuses on missing persons of color, providing media training, search coordination, and advocac
- OurBlackGirls: Highlights stories of missing and murdered Black women and girls, ensuring cases remain visible .http://missing women in America
For you can help
- Report sightings or tips to local law enforcement or relevant organizations.
- Share missing persons profiles on social media to increase visibility.
- Support advocacy groups through donations or volunteer work to fund searches, awareness campaigns, and family support.The crisis of missing women in America reflects systemic disparities, underreporting, and the need for coordinated action across communities, law enforcement, and media to ensure safety, visibility, and justice for all missing women.
