#Standing4BlackGirls Coalition Violence Prevention, LGBTQ Youth and Arts Education Initiative

Mental health

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

African American women and girls experience disproportionately high rates of sexual violence, sexual
harassment, and domestic/intimate partner violence. It has been estimated by the Black Women's Blueprint
that 40-60% of African American girls have experienced sexual abuse by the time they turn 18. According to
the National Center on Violence Against Black Women, only one in 15 African American women report
rape. Over the past several years, suicide rates among African American middle school girls have increased by 49%. Unfortunately, the health education curriculum in California K-12 schools does not provide culturally responsive
sexual violence prevention education tailored to the lived experiences of girls of color or LGBTQ youth. Black straight and
queer girls who experience sexual violence are more likely to be pushed out of school, suffer unplanned
pregnancies without reproductive health care access, experience homelessness,and become vulnerable to
commercial sexual exploitation.

Formed in 2020, the #Standing4BlackGirls task force addresses disproportionate rates of sexual and domestic violence, criminalization among African American girls, girls of color and BIPOC LGBTQIA+ youth. The coalition task force is comprised of female-identified Black and Latinx high school and college students from South L.A.The #Standing4BlackGirls coalition implements prevention education and community organizing, utilizing a youth survivor focused Black feminist curriculum (based on data, trauma-informed methodologies, and Black youth lived experiences). Youth participants teach and lead school-community workshops with an emphasis on mental health, healing, and community advocacy. In these sessions, participants learn what sexual harassment and sexual violence entail; they become familiar with the difference between coercion and consent; they engage in discussions about victim blaming and victim shaming that focus on how these behaviors operate in communities of
color; they learn about the implications of "misogynoir" or anti-Black misogyny in the media and society; they are informed
about the dynamics of sexual violence for Black LGBTQIA+ and nonbinary youth, and how homophobia,
transphobia, and heteronormativity affect survivors across sexuality; they are also taught to
write and publish blogs on sexual and domestic violence, develop podcasts, organize, speak and perform at rallies while pushing for policy change with policymakers, activists and educators.

According to a 2023 report published by the L.A. Civil Human Rights and Equity department, Black women comprise approximately 4.3% of the Los Angeles' population, yet are 25%-33% of female sexual and domestic violence victims. Moreover, Black girls have the highest rates of domestic sex trafficking in L.A. county. Nationwide, Black women are murdered at younger ages and higher rates than any other female demographic group. According to a 2023 Lancet Medical Journal study, Black women between the ages of 25-44 are six times more likely to be killed than are white women and the majority of these homicides are domestic violence-related. If our work is successful, horrendous stats and experiences such as these will be mitigated in South L.A. The wraparound prevention education, multi-generational mentoring, youth leadership development and safe spaces that the Women's Leadership Project and the #Standing4BlackGirls coalition provide could become a model for other regions in the County.

Our evaluation tools include: Campus clinic data on the number of Black girls and Black queer youth who gain access to sexual health resources and were able to utilize them throughout their high school careers.
Survey and focus group data from WLP and #Standing4BlackGirl youth and ally youth on the effectiveness of the knowledge and skills they gained from their preventive education training and participation in community organizing.
Survey responses from student participants in WLP’s school-community presentations, measuring the number of young people who gained new knowledge about intersectional dimensions of rape culture, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, misogynoir and criminalization.
Written evaluations from adult advisers on mental health and wellness strategies to address trauma, depression, and other social-emotional and psychological risk factors.
Tracking of WLP student high school graduation rates, college admission rates, college graduation rates and employment.