Episode 34: Why Are So Many Accomplished Black Women Being Killed by the Men They Love?

When Home Isn't Safe: Understanding the Hidden Crisis Facing Black Women

We’ve been conditioned to look for danger in strangers.

But the data—and the lives lost—tell a different story.

Black women in the United States are murdered by men at nearly four times the rate of white women, and in more than 90% of those cases, the perpetrator is someone they know—most often an intimate partner. Despite making up roughly 14% of the U.S. female population, Black women represent nearly one-third of all women killed by intimate partners.

Let that land.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Marissa Leslie, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Clinical Officer, and Senior Vice President at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health—a national leader in evidence-based behavioral health care.

Dr. Leslie brings a clinical and systems-level lens to help us understand:

• How untreated and undertreated mental illness can escalate within intimate relationships
• Why high-functioning, accomplished couples are not immune
• How patterns of coercion, control, and emotional dysregulation often precede lethal outcomes
• And why the most dangerous moment for a woman is often when she tries to leave

We will also acknowledge recent, high-profile tragedies—not to sensationalize them, but to underscore the reality that this is not hypothetical. It is happening now.

This episode is about pattern recognition.

Because what we fail to name… we cannot interrupt.