Mechanisms Connecting Police Brutality, Intersectionality, and Women’s Health Over the Life Course

Bibliographic Data

ID11033472
AuthorsAlang (0000-0003-2049-5648, The Centre for Health (New Zealand)), Sirry Alang (Sirry Alang is with the Department of Sociology and the Program in Health Medicine and Society at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. Rahwa Haile is with the Department of Public Health at the State University of New York, Old Westbury, NY. Rachel Hardeman is with the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity and the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis. Jé Judson is with the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.), Rahwa Haile (0000-0003-4155-4002, Sirry Alang is with the Department of Sociology and the Program in Health Medicine and Society at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. Rahwa Haile is with the Department of Public Health at the State University of New York, Old Westbury, NY. Rachel Hardeman is with the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity and the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis. Jé Judson is with the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.), Rachel R Hardeman (0000-0003-3913-5933, The Centre for Health (New Zealand)), Rachel Hardeman (Sirry Alang is with the Department of Sociology and the Program in Health Medicine and Society at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. Rahwa Haile is with the Department of Public Health at the State University of New York, Old Westbury, NY. Rachel Hardeman is with the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity and the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis. Jé Judson is with the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.), Jé Judson (0000-0002-4675-7549, Sirry Alang is with the Department of Sociology and the Program in Health Medicine and Society at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. Rahwa Haile is with the Department of Public Health at the State University of New York, Old Westbury, NY. Rachel Hardeman is with the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity and the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis. Jé Judson is with the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.)
Year2023
Volume113
IssueS1
PagesS29-S36
Publication date2023-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2022.307064
PMID36696613
OpenAlexW4318037406
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited25

Police brutality harms women. Structural racism and structural sexism expose women of color to police brutality through 4 interrelated mechanisms: (1) desecration of Black womanhood, (2) criminalization of communities of color, (3) hypersexualization of Black and Brown women, and (4) vicarious marginalization. We analyze intersectionality as a framework for understanding racial and gender determinants of police brutality, arguing that public health research and policy must consider how complex intersections of these determinants and their contextual specificities shape the impact of police brutality on the health of racially minoritized women. We recommend that public health scholars (1) measure and analyze multiple sources of vulnerability to police brutality, (2) consider policies and interventions within the contexts of intersecting statuses, (3) center life course experiences of marginalized women, and (4) assess and make Whiteness visible. People who hold racial and gender power—who benefit from racist and sexist systems—must relinquish power and reject these benefits. Power and the benefits of power are what keep oppressive systems such as racism, sexism, and police brutality in place. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(S1):S29–S36. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307064 )

Criminalization · Criminology · Heterosexism · Homosexuality · Intersectionality · Police brutality · Power (physics) · Public health · Race (biology) · Racism · Sociology · Women of color · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Medicine

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