The violence Black women face today is not accidental—it is the legacy of centuries of racial, gendered, and colonial domination. From the earliest days of European colonialism, Black women’s bodies, identities, and autonomy have been targeted through systems of control disguised as "civilization."
Across the continent, colonial regimes imposed brutal policies: criminalizing cultural practices, legitimizing sexual violence, and using tactics like hostage-taking to coerce communities into submission. Laws were enacted to ban relationships between Black women and European men—not to protect women, but to preserve white supremacy. By the late 19th century, such unions were outlawed across German, French, Belgian, and British colonies. Mixed-race children were often taken from their mothers, erased from their cultures, or left stateless—acts of state-sponsored racial cleansing. Generations later, survivors and descendants are still fighting for recognition and reparations.
Colonialism may have formally ended—but its violences persist. Today, Black women continue to be dehumanized: hypersexualized, blamed for poverty, or scapegoated for the climate crisis. These racist, patriarchal myths bleed into modern systems—from migration and policing to healthcare, tech, and reproductive policies. In 2018, a study showed Black women in the UK and US were 84% more likely to face online harassment than white women. In Mayotte, reports of forced sterilizations by French authorities echo the eugenic policies of past regimes—abuses that would be unthinkable in mainland France.
Still, accountability is rare. Global frameworks for gender justice often ignore or sideline the intersecting oppressions faced by Black women. We reject that erasure.