Thanks to the leadership of directly impacted community members and collaboration of cross-sector institutional stakeholders, Research in Action (RIA) published the nation’s first comprehensive state-level report on the epidemic of missing and murdered Black women and girls in 2022. This led to the creation of the nation’s first Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls (MMBWG) and the introduction of federal legislation in 2023. Beginning in 2025, RIA will lead a five-year project to develop evaluation tools and test a shared structure between the state and a community organization to address missing and murdered Black women and girls.

Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls Initiative

Key Reports

Executive Summary:
Missing and Murdered African American Women’s Task Force

(2022 | 12 pages)

Full Report:
Missing and Murdered African American Women’s Task Force

(2022 | 70 pages)

“I Had to Advocate for Myself”
Insights on the Safe Harbor Initiative
and Sexual Exploitation

(2023 | 24 pages)

Project Partners

Minnesota Department of Public Safety and Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls

The Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls (MMBWG) Office was established in 2023 to reduce and end the systemic neglect and violence faced by Black women and girls in Minnesota. Its goal is to honor the lives of those missing and murdered, elevate their stories, and work tirelessly to prevent future tragedies through education, awareness and transformative action. Read more.

Community Action Council of Black women and girls

This Community Action Council will be made up of Black women and girls with lived experience of violence whowill be project leaders throughout the full lifecycle of the initiative to ensure RIA creates solutions that do not cause unintended harm or repeat patterns of the past. 

Project Goals

Accountability

RIA will partner with the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and the Director of the Office of MMBWG to ensure the office executes its duties with fidelity to the recommendations generated by Black women survivors.

Evaluation Tools

Using our innovative Equity in Action process, we’ll center the expertise of impacted communities to co-create a model framework for assessing safety and vulnerability of Black women and girls — and measure

Systems Change

The community-created vulnerability index will provide evidence-based support on how to design, pilot, and evaluate new training and coordination initiatives, including an interagency coordination strategy and culturally relevant trauma training.

Latest Updates

Research in Action Launches Next, Ground-Breaking Phase in Work to End the Epidemic of Violence Against Black Women & Girls

In 2024, the Equity in Action Way Foundation was awarded a Bush Foundation Community Innovation Grant and has contracted with Research in Action to embark on a five-year process to 1) assess how Black women and girls perceive their level of vulnerability to violence and 2) measure the progress of key state agencies toward reducing Black women and girls’ vulnerability to violence. Using our innovative Equity in Action process, we’ll once again center the expertise of impacted communities to co-create a model framework for assessing safety and vulnerability of Black women and girls in Minnesota that can be a model for the nation.

Read more