Gendered Racism and Fatal Police Violence Against Black and Hispanic Women in the Era of Black Lives Matter

Abstract The current study analysed more than 500 officer-involved deaths (OIDs) of women using Mapping Police Violence data from 2013 to 2023. It examined the circumstances under which women were killed in OIDs during that period and made comparisons across racial groups. Guided by the theory of gendered racism and research literature about race and gender disparities in police use of deadly force, the research addresses the phenomenon of being killed by the police in seemingly ‘no threat’ situations (KSNTS), a circumstance in which police officers are reported to have killed civilians who were unarmed and not attacking, not brandishing a weapon, not making sudden movements, not using a weapon, nor taking any other aggressive action. The findings provide evidence of gendered racism, with Black and Hispanic women experiencing a larger share of KSNTS deaths than white women. Roughly 41% of Black and 44% of Hispanic women were reported as unarmed at the time of their death, compared to 31% of white women. Similarly, a greater percentage of Black (25.2%) and Hispanic (24.1%) women were killed when they were not attacking or making aggressive physical movements at the time of death. The findings suggest that, similar to police encounters that involve men, race and racism may be influencing officers’ decisions to use lethal force during encounters with women in a manner that privileges the humanity, safety, and constitutional rights of white women, while fatally disadvantaging women of colour. Citation: Dawson, Akiv J et al., ‘Gendered Racism and Fatal Police Violence Against Black and Hispanic Women in the Era of Black Lives Matter’ (03 Feb. 2026), in Delores Jones-Brown (ed.), Police and Criminal Justice, in Meena Dhanda (ed.), Oxford Intersections: Racism by Context (Oxford, online edn, Oxford Academic, 20 Mar. 2025 -), https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198945246.003.0026, accessed [date].