New Missouri Law Sponsored by Black Lawmaker Creates a Task Force to Address the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls in the State

A Missouri bill going into effect Aug. 28 creates a task force to address the crisis of missing and murdered African American women and girls in the state.

The idea, which came from Sen. Angela Mosley, D-Florissant, has been years in the making.

Mosley sponsored a bill in the Missouri Senate in the last legislative session to create the task force, and the language for that bill was added into House Bill 495, which Gov. Mike Kehoe signed after it passed the General Assembly.

The issue of Black women going missing has been on the rise in recent years. According to the National Crime Information Center, in 2022, of the 271,493 girls and women reported missing, about 36% of those missing women and girls were Black. Black women and girls only made up about 14% of the female population in the U.S. at that time. [MORE]