Missing women murdered, where’s the analysis?

Stepha Henry (left) and Maria Lauterbach (right).
I hate posting about news like this, but I know I can’t avoid it… Last week and today we found out about the respective fates of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach and Stepha Henry, two women who had been missing. Lauterbach’s body has been found and the suspect in her death is on the run; Henry’s body hasn’t been found, but police have made an arrest for her murder.
What (shockingly) seems to be missing from the coverage of both of these cases is a discussion of violence against women. In Henry’s case, it’s been difficult to find a lot news coverage at all about her disappearance–wonder why that is. In the coverage of Lauterbach’s murder, we’ve heard nary a word on violence against pregnant women, sexual assault in the military or the silencing of rape survivors.
Every time I see a story on cable news about a missing (usually white) woman, I want to turn off the television. Not because I don’t care, but because I can’t stand seeing how the story is treated. But instead of tuning out, I’m committing myself to start holding our media outlets accountable–and so should you. Demand that missing women of color don’t go missing in the news as well, and let the media know that they must talk about violence against women in relation to these stories. It’s not that hard to contact news outlets, so when you see “missing women” coverage, get moving…