Invisible Victims of State-Sponsored Sexual Violence:Black Men & the Homoerotic Police Ritual of Stop & Frisk

• In Event: A Critical Approach to Policing Dynamics

Abstract

There has never been a single moment in U.S. history where policing has not been directly involved in racist, anti-Black misandry. The institution of policing has always seen Black men and boys as disposable objects of the state’s violent, phallic desires. Since its origins as slave patrols, policing has invisibly victimized millions of Black men through the homoerotic fetish of stop & frisk. This essay shares the stories of Black men, all from different geographical regions of the country, who were victims of sexual violations by police during stop & frisk encounters. This essay argues that Black men must be understood as a vulnerable population at high risk for sexual traumatization from stop & frisk police encounters and require the same type of support services offered to rape victims.

Author

• Tony Gaskew, University of Pittsburgh