Hicks-Hudson Calls for Creation of Task Force on Missing Women and Girls

Today, state Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) held a press conference to discuss Senate Bill 178, which would create a task force on missing women and girls who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color to address the disproportionate rates at which these populations go missing in the state of Ohio. 

“We must have accurate and equal care and opportunities for all of our children, and all of our girls, regardless of their race, creed, or color,” said Hicks-Hudson. “It does not matter whether the child is Black or Brown, truant or runaway; labels should not matter. We must do something about our missing children in the state of Ohio.”

This task force will develop policy recommendations for various state agencies to address systemic neglect regarding missing women and children of color, educating Ohio communities on the dangers facing women and children of color, creating a mechanism for collecting accurate statistics around this issue, and implementing statewide programming and awareness campaigns to address this major safety concern for Ohio. The task force would be a bipartisan group comprised of members in both the Senate and House chambers, as well as law enforcement agents and other related state agency representatives to holistically address this issue that plagues our state.

The rate at which women and girls of color go missing is alarming. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Black women and girls made up 36% of all missing women and children in 2022, despite only representing 14% of the total US population at the time. A further shocking statistic, an article that analyzed Ohio Attorney General data from 2022 showed that 61% of missing children in Ohio were of Black American descent, despite only making up 16% of the minors in Ohio.

 “I was taken at 11 years old and rescued at 12 and a half years old. The first words out of my mouth were ‘Was anybody looking for me?’ And the answer was ‘no.’ How can nobody look for an 11-year-old child? Why wasn’t somebody looking for me? Why is nobody looking for our Black, Brown, and Indigenous people?” asked EleSondra DeRomano, a human rights activist and founder of S.T.A.R.S. Toledo.

This legislation is the culmination of Senator Hicks-Hudson’s decades of work in the juvenile justice system and her unwavering commitment to the well-being of Ohio’s most vulnerable and marginalized communities. Developed in collaboration with Girl Vow, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the gender-specific needs of disadvantaged girls and gender-expansive youth in New York City, and EleSondra DeRomano, a human rights activist and founder of S.T.A.R.S. (Standing Together Accomplishing Real Solutions) in Toledo, Ohio, this bill represents a critical step forward in Ohio’s statewide effort to confront a pressing health and safety concern affecting residents across the state.

Senator Hicks-Hudson was also joined at the press conference by:

• Dr. Marlene Carson, United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking 
• Essence Doucet, Second Vice President of the Cleveland Section of the National Council of Negro Women and the chair of the Social Justice Committee 
• Marquis Frost, Chair of the Missing Woman and Children Human and Sex Trafficking Awareness and Safety Series Program
• Monica McClelland, President of the Cleveland Section of the National Council of Negro Women