Do No Harm: Reflecting on a Legacy of Pain for Black Women and Girls in the United States

As the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality reported in 2017, “compared to white girls of the same age (i.e. age range of five to 14), adults perceive that black girls need less protection, know more about adult topics, and know more about sex.” Yet they are seen as too childlike and promiscuous to exercise reproductive autonomy over their bodies.