Report: Black Iowa women are being killed by gun violence at higher rates

• The majority of the homicides of Black women involve someone they knew, including a partner, family member or friend, according to the Violence Policy Center.

By the numbers: Black Iowans made up half of the state's 106 homicide victims in 2020, despite representing just 5% of the population.

• The majority of these homicides involved someone they knew, according to the Violence Policy Center.
• All but one of the 13 Black women killed that year died from a gunshot wound.

State of play: Families and advocates from around the state blame the rise in homicides on how easy it is to illegally acquire a gun, as well as inadequate support for local social services.

• They also point to Iowa's disproportionately high incarceration rates for Black men, which can later result in generational barriers such as housing and employment access, according to a 2021 IPR report.

What they're saying: All of the systemic inequities Black Americans have faced came to a head in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing struggles, Luana Nelson-Brown, head of the Iowa Coalition for Collective Change, told The Guardian.

• "I think we're seeing the result of a pandemic of racism and sexism combine with COVID to create something new," Nelson-Brown said.

What's next: Des Moines has funded $745K in a violence reduction program run by Creative Visions. But the program's ambiguous benchmarks have made it unclear if it's helping.

• Polk County is also undergoing a public health campaign on gun safety following an increase in youth shootings deaths, including at "Starts Right Here" in downtown Des Moines.

Worthy of your time: "What a surge in murders means for Black women in Iowa" by Abené Clayton.