(Un)safe Spaces: The Relationship Between Slavery and Sexual Victimization of Black Women.

Research exploring the correlates of sexual victimization has found sexual victimization to be associated with both individual- and contextual-level factors, including age, gender, poverty, and size of the female population. However, to date, research has been limited in exploring how historical factors, such as slavery, may be associated with the contemporary prevalence of sexual victimization of women. Historical accounts have often suggested that enslaved women often experienced sexual victimization during their enslavement. Despite these accounts, research has been limited in empirically exploring the relationship between slavery and the sexual victimization of Black women. Using the 1860 U.S. Census and the 2019 National Incidence-Based Reporting System, multilevel logistic regression analyses are employed to explore whether slavery is consequential for contemporary instances of Black female sexual victimization. In line with the "legacy effect" framework, the findings from the current study suggest that Black women are significantly more likely to be sexually victimized in counties characterized by larger enslaved populations in 1860. These findings illuminate how historical institutions, despite being outlawed, have contemporary consequences, particularly for Black women. These findings, discussions, avenues for future research, and policy implications are discussed below.

"Value in diversity": School racial and ethnic composition, teacher diversity, and school punishment.

American schools have become increasingly punitive and characterized by racial and ethnic disparities in punishment outcomes. Scholarship on the causes and consequences of this shift has highlighted the potential salience of school context. The current study extends this work by exploring the potential effect of an underexplored factor, teacher diversity, on suspension disparities. To date, explorations of the role of teacher diversity have been limited to its impact on academic outcomes, teacher perceptions, and behavioral outcomes. The current study fills a void in the existing literature by examining (1) whether greater teacher diversity is associated with reductions in racial and ethnic suspension disparities and (2) whether greater teacher diversity interacts with the size of the racial and ethnic student population to influence suspension disparities. This study contributes to the existing literature by extending the "value in diversity" perspective to the school setting. Additionally, the findings suggest that racial and ethnic diversity in positions of authority in the school setting fosters a more equitable approach to the administration of student punishment.