For decades, dozens of women have been missing or murdered in Chicago with little to no answers for their families. State Senator Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) is sponsoring legislation to address this issue.
“When a loved one goes missing or is murdered, that takes a huge toll on a family, and that is a pain that will never go away,” Hunter said. “That pain is magnified when the family is left with no answers, which is why we need a task force to offer guidance for how to handle these cases better.”
House Bill 3988 creates the Task Force on Missing and Murdered Chicago Women Act. The task force will examine and report on the systemic causes behind violence that Chicago women and girls experience.
The report will explore methods for tracking and collecting data on violence against Chicago women and girls, policies and institutions that impact violence against them, measures necessary to address and reduce violence against them, and ways to help victims and their families and communities.
“Women that go missing or turn up murdered anywhere is unacceptable, and in Chicago specifically, we’ve found this to be a pressing issue,” Hunter said. “The families of Black and Brown women that are missing or murdered are even less likely to get answers. We need to get to the root of the problem to protect our women and girls.”
House Bill 3988 passed the Senate Public Safety Committee Tuesday and awaits further action from the full Senate.
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