Sixty percent of black girls have experienced sexual abuse at the hands of black men before reaching the age of 18, according to an ongoing study

Farah Tanis, Co-Founder of the New York-based organization and co-author of the study, says that the issue of domestic and sexual abuse in the black community is rarely discussed and that a 60% rate should be a wake-up call to black women. “A similar study which was conducted by The Black Women’s Health Imperative seven years ago found that that number was about 40%,” Tanis says. “So that means there is an increase and we need to stop neglecting that issue.” Black women experience domestic violence at a rate 35% higher than white women.